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REPORT 


ON THE 


Ocoee and Hiwassee Mineral District. 


BY 

J. B. KILLEBREYV, 

Commissioner of Agriculture , Statistics and Alines. 


NASHVILLE: 

TAVEL, EASTMAN & HOWELL. 
1876. 


























































































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MINERAL DISTRICT 

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TN 24 
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Copy 1 


REPORT 




J. B. KILLEBREW, 

'J 

Commissioner* of Agriculture , Statistics and Mines . 



NASHVILLE: 
TAVEL, EASTMAN & HOWELL. 
1876. 
























































LC Control Number 



06 021993 






































To His Excellency, Gov. Jas. D. Porter : 

Herewith is submitted a report on the Mineral 
District, drained by the Ocoee and Hiwassee rivers, one 
of the most valuable and important in the State, and 
one about which capitalists are eagerly seeking informa¬ 
tion. 

I have the honor to be, 

Very Respectfully, 

J. B. KILLEBREW. 


October 16th, 1876. 






\ 

































OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT 


There is no region in the State of Tennessee containing 
a larger number of valuable minerals than that drained by 
the Ocoee and Hiwassee rivers. Here, within an area of 
2,000 square miles,' may be found gold, lead, copper, iron, 
roofing slate, lithographic stone, marble, and baryta, all of 
considerable economic value. 

The following counties, or parts of counties, were in¬ 
cluded in the Ocoee and Hiwassee districts, viz : Monroe, 
Polk, McMinn, Bradley, James, Meigs, all that portion of 
Hamilton lying east of the Tennessee river, and the portion 
of Boane lying south and east of the same stream. 

The Hiwassee district, lying east and north of the Hi¬ 
wassee river, and extending north and west to the Tennes¬ 
see river, was ceded to the United States by treaty with, 
the Cherokees, confirmed by the Senate 19th March, 1819. 

The Ocoee district, lying south of the Hiwassee river, 
was acquired from the same tribe of Indians by treaty 
bearing date 23d May, 1836. 

The topography of this region is exceedingly varied. 
The mountains on the south-east are lofty and imposing, 
rising to the average height of 3,500 feet. Between the 
Little Tennessee and the Hiwassee rivers, occur Hangover’s 
Knob and Haw’s Knob, that have an elevation of over 5,000 
feet. Tellico Bald, in Monroe county, has an elevation of 
4,266 feet. Frog Mountain lies south of the Ocoee, its 
highest peak being, according to Guyot, 4,226 feet above 
the sea. 



6 OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 

Between this line of peaks, which runs north-east and 
south-west, is a depression, or elevated mountain valley, 
which lies between the main Unaka range on the south-east 
and the Chilhowee range on the north-west. This Chilho- 
wee range is a succession of sandstone mountains, ridgey or 
comby in form, the highest points of which reach about 
2,500 feet above the sea. In this range is included the 
Chilhowee Mountain proper, which begins five or six miles 
west of Sevierville and passes through Blount county, ter¬ 
minating at McGhee Ford, on the Tennessee river. The 
Guide Mountain, in Monroe county, belongs to the Chilho¬ 
wee range, and is included between Ball Play creek and 
Tellico river. Eight or ten miles to the south-west, in the 
same line, is Star Mountain, that lifts its bold crest proudly 
above the valley and terminates at the Ocoee river, being 
eighteen miles in length. 

These three mountains, viz: Chilhowee, Guide Moun¬ 
tain, and Star Mountain, make up the Chilhowee range, 
and are outliers of the main Unaka chain, and are separated 
from it by a mountain depression, which is some eighteen 
or twenty miles wide. The Unaka chain may be considered 
the middle belt of the Appalachians—the Cumberland 
Table-land lying to the north-west and the Blue Ridge 
to the south-east. Lying south-west of the Chilhowee 
range is a series of minor ridges and valleys running 
north-east and south-west. Some of these ridges are dis¬ 
sected, forming beautifully rounded hills, with a wonder¬ 
ful regularity as to height, size, and distance apart. The 
tops of these hills are from 300 to 400 feet above the level 
of the valley. They have a deep red ferruginous soil, 
highly productive, though owing to their steepness, the soil 
soon washes down into the valley. These knobs constitute 
one of the principal topographical features of this region. 

Between these minor ridges are valleys averaging in 
width from one to two miles, in which the soil is of exuber- 



OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


7 


ant fertility. The ridges are mainly composed of chert, and 
have poor soils and a scanty supply of timber. There are 
some exceptions, however, to this. Eastanallee ridge, in 
McMinn county, possesses a generous soil, and is covered 
with a dense forest. The principal streams of this region 
are the Hiwassee, the Ocoee, Tellico, Conesauga, Chestua, 
Eastanallee; the Hiwassee being the main artery into which 
all the others flow, with the exception of the Tellico, which 
is the tributary of Little Tennessee. The Hiwassee rises 
in North Carolina, on the western side of the Blue Ridge, 
and runs north-west at right angles to the Unaka range, 
cutting through it in deep narrow gorges, some of these 
being over a thousand feet deep. It also bisects Star Moun- 
tain, cutting gorges through the minor hills, and finally pour¬ 
ing its waters into the Tennessee river, forty-five miles 
above Chattanooga. The Hiwassee is navigable for a dis¬ 
tance of 33 miles during nine months in the year, the head 
of navigation being the point where it leaves Star Moun¬ 
tain. The Ocoee, a tributary of the latter, rises in Georgia, 
flowing quietly in a north-westerly direction through Cop- 
perValley, in Polk county, after passing which,it cuts through 
Frog Mountain, one of the peaks of the Unaka range. 
For fourteen miles after leaving Copper Valley the stream 
is confined by high towering and often overhanging preci¬ 
pices, falling within this distance more than 1,000 feet. 
The current is vexed by huge boulders that have tumbled 
down into the channel. The whole river through this dis¬ 
tance forms a succession of cascades, whose thundering roar 
may be heard for miles, and well justifies the name of the 
Ocoee or “ Roaring River.” After passing the mountains it 
becomes a very quiet, gentle stream,winding beside broad fer¬ 
tile valleys and supplying some of the most valuable water 
powers in the State. Its average width in the mountains 
is about 85 feet, but lower down it spreads out to a width 
of 145 feet. Though a tributary of the Hiwassee, the depth 



8 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


of water for eight or ten miles above the mouth is much 
greater than that of the main stream. It is navigable for 
three or four miles above its mouth, and but for the mill- 
dams and overhanging timber, it might, at a small expense, 
be made navigable to the mouth of Cookes Creek, some 
eight miles from its confluence with the Hiwassee. 

Tellico river has its head waters in the Unaka Range, 
runs north-west to Tellico Plains, and thence it takes a north¬ 
erly direction, emptying into the Little Tennessee, fourteen 
miles from its mouth. This stream, after leaving the 
mountains, passes across the country through a succession 
of rich valleys, some of them very wide and productive, and 
especially adapted to the growth of Indian corn, wheat, oats, 
rye, and Irish potatoes. The banks of this stream are 
usually of hard rocks, and the fall is very rapid and the 
water of unusual transparency. No stream in the State 
supplies more excellent water powers, some of which will 
be described further on in this work. 

The Conesauga, Chestua, and Eastanallee, all tributaries 
of the Hiwassee, flow down parallel valleys at right angles to 
the mountain stream. The valleys bordering these creeks are 
noted for the fertility of their soils and for their width and 
beauty. These streams are usually sluggish and have mud 
banks, and though supplying some good water privileges, 
are inferior to the other streams heret ofore mentioned. In 
their appearance they resemble the streams of West Ten¬ 
nessee, having tortuous channels, with deep cut banks and 
feeble currents. The ridges which bound them are sharp 
and persistent. After heavy rains these streams often rise 
in fearful torrents, sweeping away fences and even houses 
upon their banks. 

The geological formations of the region under considera¬ 
tion are as varied as the topographical features. Beginning 
on the south-eastern side of the district, two triangular 
patches occur, one in the south-eastern part of Polk county, 


OCOEE AND IIIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


9 


comprising about 54 square miles, and another in Monroe 
county, of 42 square miles, which belong to the metamor- 
phie formation. The rocks of this formation are mostly 
crystalline, occurring in stratified beds. Gneiss, syenite, 
talcose-chloritic and mica-slates constitute the principal 
varieties. Veins of milky quartz are often found inter- 
stratified with the other strata mentioned. All the strata 
dip at a high angle to the south-east. In the metamorphic 
formation the copper ores occur, which will be spoken of 
more in detail hereafter. Gray and flesh-colored gneiss is 
found, which might be made valuable for building purposes, 
if the ipeans of transportation were afforded. 

Lying to the north-west of these two patches of meta¬ 
morphic rocks, and forming a continuous band or strip 
fourteen miles wide, is the Ocoee group of the Lower Si¬ 
lurian. The Ocoee river cuts through this group and ex¬ 
poses the coarse, gray and reddish conglomerates alternat¬ 
ing and inters!ratified with chloritic-talcose and argillace¬ 
ous-slates. These slates are green, light blue, or black. 
Sometimes the conglomerate runs into a coarse sandstone. 
In the conglomerate the pebbles are quartz, sometimes 
white, again a jaspery color, often rounded, but sometimes 
angular. A beautiful variation is often given to the 
bluffs of conglomerate by seams of quartz, which occur 
both in fissure veins running uoconformably to the strata, 
and sometimes in regular strata. Dr. Safford puts the 
thickness of the Ocoee group at 10,000 feet. The only 
difference between this group and the metamorphic is, that 
the latter has undergone a baking or heating process, and has 
thus been changed into crystal line rocks. These Ocoee rocks 
in the district under consideration, embrace quite six hun¬ 
dred square miles. In this group are found valuable de¬ 
posits of brown hematite, and roofing slates. The gold 
region on Coco Creek also occurs in this formation. Py- 
ritiferous slates are also found, and but for the disintegrat- 


10 OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 

ing effects of the pyrite, might be valuable for roofing 
purposes. At Mundic Bluff I obtained some fine cubical 
specimens of pyrite from the slate. The slates here are 
pock-marked by the falling out of the cubes of pyrites 
whenever exposed to the action of the weather. 

The conglomerate at places forms high bluffs. At one 
point, twelve miles below Ducktown on the Ocoee, it rises 
five or six hundred feet, which causes the river to make a 
sharp curve. Dressed, this rock would make quite a hand¬ 
some building stone and very durable. It weathers well. 
The rocks excavated at this point twenty years ago, show 
the sharp edges as clearly marked as when first quarried. 

As a grazing region this formation offers some superior 
advantages. The wild mountain grasses cover the sides 
and tops of the mountains, and the numerous springs that 
break out from every cove furnish an abundance of the 
purest water. The air is bracing, and all kinds of stock 
fatten well during summer. 

The timber is of medium quality, composed mostly of 
chestnut, hickory, and pine, both white and yellow. 

The belt lying on the north-west of the Ocoee group is 
made up of the Chilhowee sandstone and the Knox Group; 
the latter comprising sandstones, shales, and magnesian 
limestone. The Chilhowee sandstones are confined to the 
Chilhowee range heretofore mentioned, and are usually 
hard, semi-crystalline red-variegated rocks, heavily bedded, 
that resist the weather probably better than any rocks in 
the State. They are essentially mountain-making. Sandy 
shales and flagstones containing mica are often found inter- 
stratified. But few signs of fossils are found—the principal 
being the holes of Seolithus linearis , filled with sandy rods. 
These mountains are singular on account of the abruptness 
with which they rise up in the surrounding plain. 

It must be remembered that the Chilhowee range lies on 
the north-west side of the principal axis of the Unakas, and 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


11 


reaches from Johnson county to Polk. This range is made 
up of a series of usually sharp-topped mountains, sepa¬ 
rated by inter-vales, sometimes of fifteen or twenty miles, 
yet the range preserves its own direction. The inter-vales 
in the Ocoee and Hiwassee district belong to the Knox 
group, which are made up of sandstones, shales, dolomites, 
and limestones. The Knox sandstones and shales make up 
the many sharp-crested ridges that rise up in the valleys. 
The soil of these ridges is, for the most part, thin and un¬ 
productive. The rocks of the valleys are limestones and 
dolomites. The Conesauga Valley is based mainly on the 
Nashville and Trenton rocks. This formation has a width 
of from three to four miles, and lies on the north-west side 
of Star Mountain, beginning near Cog Hill and extending 
north-easterly throughout the State. Wherever these rocks 
occur the soil is of exuberant fertility. The red knobs be¬ 
long to this belt. 

Lying parallel with this on the north-west, occurs a belt 
of the Knox group. This formation is characterized by 
cherty knobs and shaly hills, with large masses of magne¬ 
sian limestone cropping out in the valleys. This series of 
rocks presents a larger area of good land than any other 
in the Ocoee and Hiwassee district. All the soils west of 
Athens nearly to Decatur, are based upon this formation. 
A few narrow strips of the Nashville and Trenton lime¬ 
stones occur, the principal one lying west of White Oak 
Mountain. The coal formation presents itself in but one 
place in this district, and that is on Lookout Mountain. 


12 OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 

ECONOMICAL GEOLOGY. 

Having given the principal topographical and geological 
features of this region, we propose now to describe, in de¬ 
tail, such minerals, rocks, mines, water powers, agricultural 
features, etc., as may have an economical value. 

TELLICO PLAINS. 

At this place, situated in Monroe county, on the Tellico 
river, thirty miles above its mouth, are some of the most 
noted deposits of iron ore and roofing slates in the State. 
The Tellico river breaks through the mountains, making a 
rapid descent, cutting through the Ocoee conglomerates and 
slates and debouching into one of the most extensive valley 
plains in East Tennessee. Numerous spurs radiate to the 
north-east, east, and south-east, and join the main Unaka 
range a few miles distant. The spurs are heavily clothed 
with a fine forest growth, consisting of chestnut oak, pine, 
black oak, and hickory. The gorges that lie between these 
numerous spurs supply an easy outlet to the timber, while 
the Tellico river could be utilized by flumes for conveying 
wood, for a considerable distance above. The most extensive 
deposit of iron ore now opened at this place is the Coppinger 
bank, lying about one and a half miles south-west of the 
Tellico works. The ore here is a compact brown hematite, 
deep black in color, resembling great blocks of coal. It is 
singularly free from impurities, as the analysis below, shows: 

Iron Ore from Tellico. 

Dark brown, cellular ore. It contains 55.25 per cent, of iron. Specific 


gravity 3.38. Analysis: 

Combined water.10.90 

Silica. 7.59 

Sesquioxide of iron.78.94 

Oxide of manganese. 0.93 

Alumina. 1.68 

Phosphorus . 0.28 

Sulphur. 0.04 

Lime..... trace 

Magnesia.trace 


Total..100.36 


N. T. LUPTON, 

Prof. Chemistry, Vanderbilt University 













OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. IS 

During the war, about 100 tons were taken out nad 
placed in a pile, ready to be roasted, preparatory to work¬ 
ing in the furnace. This ore now has the appearance of hav¬ 
ing been coated with pitch. No oxidation is discoverable.. 

There are two principal varieties at this place, viz: the 
compact and the honey-combed. Shot ore is found at 
other banks, which will be described hereafter. 

The excavation at the Coppinger bank is about 180 feet 
long and 40 feet deep, and has been made in the face of a 
ridge, near the foot. This ridge is quite three hundred feet 
above the level of the valley. The ore shows itself through¬ 
out the entire height of the excavation and reaches below 
an unknown depth. It lies imbedded in a matrix of yel¬ 
low, white and maroon colored clays, which give a variegated 
appearance to the sides of the excavation. The ore is found 
scattered in this matrix, occurring sometimes in large blocks 
that would weigh many tons, and then again in nodules 
not larger than a walnut. 

The ore shows no flint or siliceous matter in its composi¬ 
tion, and it is mined with great ease and rapidity, one hand 
being able to raise three or four tons per day. The strip¬ 
ping usually consists of a thin layer of clay, not more than 
two or three feet in thickness, and of the quantity of ma¬ 
terial taken from the bank, fully one-half is ore. 

It is believed, owing to the manganese contained in this 
ore, that it will prove invaluable tor the making of Bessamer 
steel. However this may be, it is known to make a very 
superior iron, being tough, hard, and of great tensile 
strength. Much of it was wrought into ornamental work,, 
such as settees and iron railings, which proved very durable 
and strong. The Confederate government, owing to the 
superior qualities of this metal, had made every preparation 
to establish an armory at this point, but the accidents of 
war prevented its accomplishment. Car wheels made of 
this iron in 1851, 2 and 3, are still in use on the Memphis 


14 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


and Charleston Railroad, and are still good and serviceable. 
Since the furnace at this place was in blast, a new bank has 
been opened between the Coppinger bank and the furnace, 
on the north-west side of the same ridge which contains the 
Coppinger bank, and midway between that and the furnace. 
The ore is of the same quality as that found at the Coppin¬ 
ger bank, and appears in inexhaustible quantity. 

The Donnelly Bank lies three miles south of the old 
works, high upon the mountain side, and shows an abun¬ 
dance of ore largely intermixed with ocherous earth. The 
ore is not so compact as at the Coppinger bank and is much 
more inconvenient to reach. It is mainly fine or shot ore, 
and outcroppings of it are found for half a mile or more 
upon the sides of the mountain. While it might be desira¬ 
ble to hold this bank in reserve, we do not doubt that the 
Coppinger bank will supply ore enough to last for centuries. 
From all the indications it would appear that the ore at the 
Coppinger bank ranges in thickness from seventy-five to 
one hundred feet, and extends on the side of the mountain 
six hundred yards or more. A tramway or railroad, built 
from the Coppinger bank to the site of the old furnace, 
would no where have a grade of over fifteen feet to the mile. 

Below the furnace, on the opposite side of Tellico river, 
occurs a fine bluff of limestone, which can be quarried and 
brought to the furnace at a very small cost. Good sand¬ 
stone for hearths is also found near the furnace site. 

Opposite the old furnace is a bluff of roofing slate of very 
superior quality. Nearly every color is here found, violet, 
green, brown and blue. The slate lies in belts alternating 
at distances of sixty or eighty feet with conglomerate sand*- 
stone. The strata are very much disturbed, numerous 
faults occurring in the formation, so that the slate appears, 
dipping at all angles, from nearly horizontal to perpendic¬ 
ular. The quantity of this material is inexhaustible, extend¬ 
ing in the ridge fully three fourths of a mile. Its quality is 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


15 


unsurpassed. It splits easily and has so much toughness 
that it may be pierced with holes almost as close together 
as a piece of tin. Struck with a hammer, a round role may 
be formed without shivering the slate. It contains no py- 
rite and is impervious to water. Specimens that have been 
lying exposed from time immemorial, show no sign of 
decay. It is also a good fire-resister, having been used in 
the construction of a blast furnace. As is the case with all 
real slates, it splits perpendicular, or at some angle, to the 
plane of stratification. Several years since this property 
was leased for the purpose of being worked, but the want 
of transportation put a stop to the enterprise. 

Copper Ore .—The large veins of milky quartz that form 
quite a prominent feature in the high rounded hills east and 
south-east of Tellico Iron Works, have excited delusive 
hopes as to gold, and many parties have, from time to time, 
prospected this region for the precious metals. Though 
doomed to disappointment, so far as gold is concerned, a 
bed of copper ore has been discovered five and a half miles 
south-east of Tellico Plains, on the waters of Crawfish creek, 
a small tributary of the Tellico, which enters from the left of 
the stream. This bed of quartz and copper glance appears 
at the foot of a water-fall some fifty feet high. The prin¬ 
cipal bed crosses the stream at right angles and shows an 
exposed surface of about four feet. It is enclosed between 
two layers of hard talcose slate. Two other veins appear, 
one four feet below and the other six above, in which the 
copper glance is seen, though not so abundantly as in the 
middle vein. The direction of the vein is north-east and 
south-west, and the copper glance shows itself in bunches 
distributed through the quartz, so as to make probably a 
tenth of the whole mass. 

The Crawfish is a wild mountain torrent that falls several 
hundred feet within a mile. Just below the water-fall, 
where the copper vein crosses the creek, the talus, composed 


16 OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 

of talcose slates, has accumulated in great quantity, so as to 
hide a portion of the vein. The vain enters the sides of 
mountains that rise up quite abruptly, whose slopes are dense¬ 
ly covered with white pine, buckeye, spruce, beech, poplar, 
hickory, dogwood, with an undergrowth of laurel and va¬ 
rious species of creeping vines, which hang gracefully down 
the bold face of the waterfall, forming a net-work of rare 
and exquisite beauty. 

The only possible outlet for the ore from this place will 
be by the construction of a road to the mouth of Crawfish, 
two hundred yards distant, and thence down the Tellico. 

The ore from this place had the reputation of containing 
silver to the amount of sixty dollars to the ton, which was 
said to have been obtained by analysis; but Prof. Lupton, 
of the Vanderbilt University, who accompanied me in the 
expedition, procured himself some of the best specimens, 
and after a careful analysis, failed to detect any trace of 
silver whatever. The following is his report: 

“The specimen of so-called ( silver ore/from near Tel¬ 
lico, is a sulphide of copper known as Chalcocite, copper 
glance, or vitreous copper. It is a mineral of dark, lead 
gray color, with bright metallic lustre, running in veins 
through white quartz. The green and bluish color imputed 
to the quartz, is caused by oxidation of enclosed ore. 

Analysis. 


Copper.72.25 

Sulphur.20.80 

Iron. 0.31 

Silica. 2.97 


100.28 

“Disregarding the silica, which composes the gangue and 
is not in combination with the ore, the result of analysis 
may be stated as follows: 


Copper.72.54 

Sulphur.21.42 

Iron. 0.32 


100.28 

N. T. LUPTON, 

Prof. Chemistry Vanderbilt University 










OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


17 


It is quite probable that the vein, when stripped, may 
show considerable width and may prove very valuable. 
This is the only copper that has been found in the Ocoee 
and Hiwassee district, outside of the high copper valley 
which lies in Polk county, an account of which may be 
found further along in this pamphlet. 

Water Power .—Nowhere in the State is to be found more 
excellent or available water powers than that afforded by 
the Tellico river, at the point where it breaks from the 
mountains. The river rushes down into the valley through 
high bluffs of slate and conglomerate rocks. Numerous 
tributaries pour into the main stream just above the old 
furnace. From the mouth of Wild Cat creek, one and a 
half mile above the furnace, the river begins to descend 
rapidly, falling 11.45 feet within a distance of 457 feet. 
At this point the stream is eighty feet wide, with an aver¬ 
age depth of eleven inches. From this point down to the 
second fall, a distance of 3561 feet, the stream passes over 
a smooth slate bottom, and will average seventy-five feet in 
width, falling within that distance twenty-five feet. Then 
it makes a second rapid descent for the distance of 1753 feet 
above the old furnace, and falls within that space 17.53 feet. 
The banks of the stream are composed of bluffs of slate and 
conglomerate, with veins of quartz. These bluffs rise to 
the height of three or four hundred feet, yet level land 
enough lies upon the margin of the stream for the erection 
of buildings and for the construction of a flume or race. 

At the foot of the falls the country widens out into an 
extended plain, covering fifteen or twenty square miles. 
For the production of all the cereals no land in the State 
surpasses that of the Tellico Plains. Records show that 
forty bushels of wheat and over a hundred bushels of corn 
per acre have been gathered from the bottoms lying west 
of the old furnace. Far in the distance westward, hills and 
mountains raise their crests high above the valley, giving a 
2 


18 OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISXRICT. 


picturesque beauty to all the surroundings. Abundant sup¬ 
plies for a dozen furnaces could be drawn from the produc¬ 
tive valleys which run down towards the Hiwassee. The 
erection of furnaces here would produce a home market 
that would add immensely to the profits of the agricultural 
community. The rich grasses that cover the lofty spurs 
which run down from the east to Tellico Plains, would sub¬ 
sist, for nine months in the year, great herds of cattle, and 
the abundant mast could be utilized in the raising of swine. 

There is but one drawback to this region, one of the 
fairest in this or any other State, and this is a want of trans¬ 
portation. During the high tides in Tellico river, grain 
and iron products may be freighted out to the Little Ten¬ 
nessee,'but the season for such boating is very short and 
very uncertain. A railroad constructed to run from Tellico 
to the head of navigation on the Hiwassee Rivei*] near Cog 
Hill, would have a south-western direction along the foot 
of Star Mountain, through the Conesauga valley, one of the 
most productive in East Tennessee, and would open up this 
whole region to capital, skill and enterprise. A prelimi¬ 
nary survey of such a road has been made by Civil Engi¬ 
neer T. D. Johns, and the grade at no point exceeds fifteen 
feet to the mile. His estimate is that the cost of a narrow 
guage railway along this route will not exceed $4,000 per 
mile for grading and ties. All along the line the farmers 
are anxious to contribute for the construction of such a road, 
and it is thought that one half of the amount necessary 
could be raised by private subscription. 

In addition to the iron ore and slate found at Tellico 
Plains, which would give constant employment to a con¬ 
siderable number of cars, there are other deposits of brown 
hematite on the line, where charcoal furnaces might be 
erected in positions quite favorable for cheap working, as at 
Tellico. 

Star Mountain, which extends in a north-easterly direc- 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


19 


tion from the Ocoee river for about thirty miles, is, as be¬ 
fore stated, in the Chilhowee range. It rises about 1,200 
feet above the Conesauga valley, and is made up of lime¬ 
stones and Chilhowee sandstones., the former extending 
about two-thirds of the way to the top. 

White Cliff Springs are situated on the extreme north¬ 
eastern point of this mountain, and is quite 2,500 feet above 
the level of the sea, the highest improved watering place in 
the State. Here chalybeate, alum, freestone and sulphur 
waters burst out from a little spoon-like cove in its north¬ 
eastern extremity. All the conditions of a sanitarium are 
here found—elevation, pure air, healthful waters, magnifi¬ 
cent scenery, and a sky singularly brilliant. The locality 
is above the dew point and the atmosphere is dry, bracing 
and highly exhilarating, acting as a tonic upon debilitated 
persons. The scenery from White Cliff Springs is grand and 
imposing. In the valley to the north-west the singular 
line of red rounded knobs appear stretching away to the 
north-east, Avhile running alongside, at intervals of a mile 
or two, the beautiful ridges rise up and pursue their con¬ 
tinuity until they fade away in the hazy distance. Standing 
upon the north-eastern edge of Star Mountain, Ground Hog 
and Chilhowee Mountain proper stand out clearly defined 
against the sky. Looking to the south-east, the bold Una- 
kas, in all their aged magnificence, appear in tinted beauty. 
Across the valley and far beyond them, just discernible in 
their misty gauze, are the high points of the Black Moun¬ 
tains, that rear their crests nearly 7,000 feet above the sea, 
the highest elevations found east of the Rocky Mountains. 
Mount Mitchell, Mount Clingman, Black Mountain, and 
other isolated peaks lift their rounded domes in the inter¬ 
space between the Unakas and the Blue Ridge, and form 
an attractive and imposing feature in the landscape. 

The buildings at White Cliff are extensive and convenient. 
The approach up the mountain is by two roads which wind 


20 OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


in many devious ways up the mountain sides, where the 
timber sometimes gives place to open patches, when the 
unequalled view bursts upon the visitor in all its sublime 
and picturesque beauty. The thermometer marks at White 
Cliff a temperature from ten to twelve degrees cooler than 
at Nashville. In 1875, the highest temperature reached in 
August was 78°, which was at 4 o’clock on the 31st. Ob¬ 
servations for 1876 show no higher temperature than eighty 
degrees, though at Nashville it rose to the blistering height 
of 99°. No pleasanter summer resort can be found any¬ 
where, though there are many other points in the State 
which would afford equal attractions, if improved. 

All along the north-western face of Star Mountain, just 
below the Springs, brown hematite lies scattered over the 
surface in considerable masses. Skirting the north-western 
base of the mountain^ blocks of ore lie intermixed with 
great sandstone boulders that have rolled down the moun¬ 
tain side. Four miles below, at Hurt’s farm, the ore ap¬ 
pears on a terrace 250 feet above the Conesauga valley, on 
the side of the mountain, in sufficient quantity to run a 
furnace. One mile lower down, opposite Cooper’s, it crops 
out in large masses,and also still lower down the valley, at Fos¬ 
ter’s and Wells’. But its greatest development is at Gee’s 
Creek, six miles below. Gee’s Creek is a confluent of the Hi- 
wassee, and takes its rise from numerous springs upon the 
sides of the mountain. It cuts a deep gash in the face of the 
mountain at its point of exit, which gash higher up has 
numerous ramifications, spreading out on the face of the 
mountain like the limbs of a pictured tree. The general 
course of this stream is south-west, and at the point where 
it leaves the mountain, the sloping hills are from 250 to 300 
feet high. On these hills occur the largest deposits of brown 
hematite that I have anywhere examined. It crops out in 
blocks, one of which is 175 feet long, with a face of fifteen 
feet. Tracing the deposit upwards, it appears for more 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


21 


than one mile and a half. Its thickness can not be less 
than 125 feet in a perpendicular line. At its highest point 
of outcrop, a trench fifty feet long has been dug upon the 
side of one of the numerous radiating spurs, which displays 
the solid ore at least forty feet thick, with not more than 
two or three feet stripping. At the head of this trench a 
block fifteen feet long and six feet high sticks out of the 
side of the spur, and this is but one specimen of the many 
which may be found here, covering in the aggregate several 
square miles. Sixty feet above the point where the last- 
mentioned block of ore juts out, and nearly on the top of 
the mountain, masses of shattered ore of fine quality are 
found. Indeed, from near the foot of the mountain to the 
top, one would be justified, in speaking of the place, to 
call it an iron mountain, so great is the quantity. As to 
quality, it resembles all the brown hematites found in this 
region, being very black and massive, and hard to break. 
Some few ocherous specimens are met with. The analysis 
of the ore, as made by Prof. Lupton, is given below: 

“ Limonite from Gee’s Creek. Dark-brown, cellular ore. It contains 
61.92 per cent, of pure iron. Specific gravity 3.32. 


Combined water .10.81 

Silica.83 

Sesqui-oxide of iron.88.47 

Sulphur.09 

Phosphoric acid.trace. 

Lime. .trace. 

Magnesia.trace. 

Total.100.20 


N. T. LUPTON, 

Prof. Chemistry, Vanderbilt University.” 

This region is very rough and mountainous, as already 
intimated, cut up into innumerable ravines and finger-like 
spurs, whose sides and tops are thickly wooded with a fine 
growth of yellow pine, red oak, chestnut and black jack. 
Upon the crests of the ridges shivered masses of sandstone 
and gravel are found. The soil is there poor and unpro- 










22 


OCOEE AND IIIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


ductive for field crops. A few coves on the mountain top 
produce moderate yields of corn and oats. Lying at the 
(foot of the mountain, however, are rich valleys, where corn, 
oats, sorghum, hay, potatoes, and other products grow in 
profusion. The Conesauga valley, lying at the north¬ 
western foot of the mountain, will average a mile in width,, 
and has a generous limestone soil, while the bottoms on the 
Hiwassee, at the mouth of Gee’s Creek, are unexcelled by 
any in productive capacity and durability. 

Gee’s Creek enters Hiwassee just at the head of naviga¬ 
tion, near the Savannah Ford. Steamboats can run to this 
point for eight months in the year, and by deepening the 
water to three feet, which could be done by the construction 
of dams at a cost of $25,000 or less, an outlet could be 
given to one of the most extensive deposits of iron ore, if 
not the most extensive in the State, as well as cheap trans¬ 
portation to the corn and wheat that are grown so abundantly 
along its banks. It is estimated that 50,000 bushels of 
wheat and 300,000 bushels of corn annnally would thus 
find a way to market. 

The Narrows of the Hiwassee occur half a mile above the 
mouth of Gee’s Creek. At this point the river breaks 
through the mountain by a deep canyon-like gorge, and 
descends with great rapidity. Its width at the Narrows is 
compressed within the space of 98 feet, and the water 
rushes rapidly through this narrow pass, falling within the 
distance of 5,610 feet, 22.39 feet, or about twenty feet to 
the mile. The Narrows begin about one-fourth of a mile 
below Spring Creek, which rises upon Star Mountain in 
Monroe county, and has itself a sufficient volume of water 
and a sufficient fall for driving any manufacturing estab¬ 
lishment. 

The average depth of water at the Narrows of the Hi¬ 
wassee, as measured by T. D. Johns, Civil Engineer, is two 
feet 4 inches, with a mean velocity of 3J miles an hour. 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


23 


Throughout the extent of the Narrows the river will aver¬ 
age in width 136 feet; the narrowest point being 98 feet 
and the widest 186 feet. On both sides of the river there 
is between the banks of the stream and the foot of the 
mountain escarpment, a gently sloping strip forty to fifty 
feet wide, along which good wagon roads have been con¬ 
structed. These strips furnish good building sites for man¬ 
ufacturing establishments or furnaces, as high up as the 
mouth of Spring Creek, and even beyond. The strip on 
the north-western side widens out near the mouth of Spring 
Creek into a broad and comparatively level area, covering 
fifteen or twenty acres, which has just sufficient slope for 
the easy construction of stock yards for furnaces. To this 
point the ore from the high points on Gee’s Creek can be 
brought down by chutes.' Should it be deemed neces¬ 
sary, furnaces could be located both upon the Narrows of 
the Hiwassee and upon Spring Creek. The water of the 
latter stream has an average depth of ten inches and an 
average width of 46 feet, with a mean velocity of four and 
a half miles an hour. The supply of water from both the 
Hiwassee and Spring Creek is very constant. Great floods 
sometimes occur, but the river never rises above the narrow 
strips that lie on each side. 

A noticeable fact is observed of the streams heading in 
the north-western side of the Chilhowee and Unaka moun¬ 
tains, and that is, their constant flow. This is no doubt 
due to two causes : 1st. The deep gorges protect the water 
from the sun, thereby lessening the amount of evaporation; 
and, 2d. The streams run for the most part over argillace¬ 
ous shales, which are less absorptive than the rocks on the 
opposite sides. This is quite an important fact bearing 
upon the future of this region, which in time must become 
one of the principal points in the State for the production 
of charcoal iron. These streams are numerous and pene¬ 
trate in every direction the very heart of the timbered 
mountain districts. In other localities one of the heaviest 


24 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINED AL DISTRICT. 


items of expenditure connected with the production of iron, 
is the construction of roads and the carting of wood to the 
coaling grounds, and from thence to the furnaces. Through¬ 
out this region, where these streams occur, flumes may be 
constructed at a cost far less than the cart or wagon roads 
in a mountainous country. Into these flumes the water 
may be turned and wood floated to the coaling grounds 
below, without any other cost than the attention of one man 
to feed it into the flumes. 

These flumes are cheaply and easily constructed. Where 
the streams have but little fall, one or two logs flattened 
are put down so as to dam back the water, thus forming a 
pool. The wood is thrown from the slopes of the hills 
above into the pool. From the pool a flume is constructed 
to the Goaling ground below, by nailing two boards or planks 
together, forming a triangular trough like a Yankee hog 
trough. This is fastened in the dam by cutting a triangular 
notch in the top log, the trough being let down until its top 
surface coincides with the top of the dam. The water is 
shut off by a small flood gate. The flume should be as 
nearly straight as possible—all abrupt angles being avoided, 
as they would be liable to obstruct the wood in its descent. 
The grade should be regular, as the flow of the water will 
then be uniform and constant. One man with a spike pole 
aided by the gentle current of the water in the pool, will 
keep the wood flowing in a constant stream without further 
cost, whether the flume be one mile or ten miles long. This 
system of transporting wood has never been practiced in 
our State, but its complete success in Colorado and other 
places where mountain streams abound, suggests its practica¬ 
bility in the Tellico and Chilhowee iron districts, where the 
mountain spurs are high and steep, and where the streams 
are numerous. By the aid of such agencies, the wood of 
the vast forests that abound in the mountainous districts 
could be cheaply utilized. 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


25 


The material for the construction of these furnaces at 
Gee’s creek is very abundant. The Chilhowee sandstones 
lie in beds of suitable thickness for quarrying. Some of 
the strata are soft and easily worked, but, the stone is 
exceedingly durable in fire. Limestone in suitable thick¬ 
ness also occurs in the valley below. 

Nor is the iron ore confined to the northeastern side of 
the Hiwassee river, but continues down Star Mountain in a 
direct line to the Ocoee rii T er, and even beyond, appearing 
on the side of Round Top Mountain, and on the waters 
of Sittico Creek and other tributaries of the Ocoee flowing 
from the west. Three miles southeast of Benton, many 
years since, a shaft was sunk to the depth of forty feet in 
the side of Star Mountain.in search of copper, which re¬ 
vealed a fine oclierous and compact brown hematite. This 
shaft was sunk near the edge of a ravine which makes a 
gash in the mountain side. The declivity is very gentle, 
and a tramway could be constructed to Hiwassee river, of 
easy grade. The slope below the ore is thickly but not 
heavily timbered, with black jack and hickory, while upon 
the sides of the mountain above, chestnut, chestnut-oak, 
pine, hickory, red oak and post oak predominate. The sur¬ 
face is made rough with sandstones that have tumbled down 
from above. 

The ore is associated with a ferruginous shale and soft, 
crumbly sandstone, with a yellowish clay. The whole extent 
of the ore as traced from Tellico to a point beyond Round 
Top Mountain is quite thirty miles, and there is scarcely a 
break in it, except a short space occurring between Tellico 
Plains and the head of Star Mountain, a distance of seven 
miles. This belt of ore has the general course of all the 
ridges of East Tennessee, that of about north 20° east. 

GOLD DISTRICT. 

Before closing my report of this part of the Ocoee and 
Hiwassee mineral district, it may be well to say a few word s 


26 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


in reference to the gold bearing district, which lies mainly 
in Monroe county, though gold has been found in Blount 
and McMinn counties. The gold occurs in the quartz of 
the Ocoee group, but nearly all the gold mined has been 
obtained from the gravel and sand that form the banks 
of the streams occurring in the regions of the veins. 
The gold has been liberated from the crumbling quartz. 
The waters of Cittico creek, Cane creek, Coco creek and 
Tellico river, all take their rise in the gold region. Most 
all the gold product has been obtained on Coco creek. The 
region is a depression or wide flat trough, cut deeply by 
streams, lying between the Chilhowee range and the Una- 
kas on the south-east. The width of the belt is from four 
to five miles, and it extends fifteen or twenty miles in a 
northeasterly and southwesterly direction. 

Placer mining was extensively carried on many years ago 
in the immense gravel beds, along the narrow bottoms of 
Coco creek, for the distance of six or eight miles. Old citi¬ 
zens who lived in the vicinity, while active operations were 
going on, report the yield per day for each hand, to range 
from one to five pennyweights. Only such spots as escaped 
the vigilant search of the first gold hunters are now worked. 
One old citizen was found at work with the primitive rocker, 
who appeared entirely satisfied with the result, and repelled 
the idea of exchanging his trustworthy rocker for sluice 
boxes. Doubtless there are many places in the gold bear¬ 
ing district, which, with improved methods, could be made 
to pay. There is one principal gold bearing quartz vein 
running through the district. This was prospected at a 
point four miles west of Tellico river, by sinking a shaft 
and running a tunnel. The quartz is very hard and of a 
milky-white hue. The vein is about three feet in thickness. 
From the shaft and tunnel many beautiful specimens were 
taken, showing free gold. Gold has been worked out of 
the sands as far down as the Tellico Iron Works. The en¬ 
tire region will probably cover one hundred square miles. 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


27 


RED IRON ORES. 

Taking a belt of country lying between the red hills and 
the railroads, we find it rich in the red hematites. They 
occur on this belt in the Lower Silurian formation, and em¬ 
brace both the fossil and compact ores. Three miles south 
of Sweetwater, in Loudon county, on the northwestern 
slope of the red hills, are found pockets of very rich com¬ 
pact red hematites of great beauty and purity. Some of 
this ore is rhombohedral, the result probably of fracture 
and not of crystallization. 

It is found in nodules, varying in thickness from one 
inch to a foot, but is scarce and irregular in its deposits. 
Its extent and quantity can only be determined by a more 
thorough prospecting. If found in sufficient quantity it 
would prove valuable for purposes of “fix” for puddling 
furnaces, as well as for mixing with the brown hematites 
of Tellico Plains and Star Mountain. 

Another deposit known as Thomas’ bank, found eight 
miles southeast of Athens, in McMinn county, is remark¬ 
able for its extent and position^ Unlike the last mentioned, 
ore, it contains flattened oolitic grains and crinoidal buttons, 
though not in such abundance as in the Dyestone of the 
Upper Silurian. The ore forms a long rounded ridge, run¬ 
ning northeast and southwest for one and a half or two 
miles, with an average height of seventy-five feet above the 
valley. The ore extends over a width of 450 feet though 
the real width of the seam is about 75 feet. The strata dips 
here about 20° to the southeast, and the ore lies between a 
bed of yellowish slate, belonging to the Trenton and Nash¬ 
ville period, and variegated marble below. The following 
is an approximate section at this point: 


Iron Limestone, with intercalated shales.250 feet. 

Yellowish Calcareous Shale, (Nashville and Trenton).300 feet. 

Fossil Ore, (hematite). 75 feet. 

Variegated Marble and Lithographic Stone.175 feet. 

Blue Limestone, (Maclurea).200 feet: 

Knox Dolomite.unknown.. 








28 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


The amount of ore at this place is immense. Southeast 
of the banks, the line of red knobs appear, the same that 
begin near Strawberry Plains, passing to the southeast of 
Knoxville, continuing southwestwardly and reaching a point 
a few miles east of Cleveland, where they cease to form a 
prominent feature in the landscape. These red knobs 
abound in excellent timber, and they rise up with such 
an even slope, that the wood could easily be brought to the 
valley below by chutes. 

The ore found in Thomas’ bank has not been worked for 
many years. Its good qualities may be inferred from the 
analysis given below, as well as from the fact that it was 
worked into bar iron in Catalan forges, thirty years ago, of 
such strength, that its excellent qualities still form a subject 
of conversation among the older citizens. In the banks 
the ore is regularly stratified, occurring in the tile-shaped, 
angular, flat masses, varying in thickness from a few inches 
to a foot. The layers are separated from one another by 
thin strata of deep maroon colored clay. The following is 
an analysis: 

McMinn Ore, (Thomas’ Bank.) 


Water.'.. 7.85 

Silica. 9.67 

Iron. ..56.65 

Combined Oxygen.24.27 

Sulphur. 0.09 

Phosphorus. 0.52 


Important deposits of good fossil ore occur in McMinn 
county, besides that of Thomas’ bank. These are found in 
the Upper Silurian in seams of varying thickness. The ore is 
excellent in quality and abundant in quantity. Most of the 
seams occur in Eastanallee Ridge, which runs nearly through 
the center of the county in a northeast and southwest direc¬ 
tion. This ridge has an elevation of quite 350 feet, and is 
densely clothed with timber. The soil is fertile, the slopes 
steep, and limestone prevails throughout its entire length. 








OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 2D 

The ore lies in two or three seams near the crest of this 
ridge. On thd lands of W. B. McKamey, five miles south of 
Biceville, several openings have been made, which display 
a seam eighteen inches thick. This seam lies between two 
strata of blue limestone of the Upper Silurian. Imme¬ 
diately above the limestone is a layer of red clay three 
feet thick, then a yellow shale which is capped by a dark 
sandy shale. The strata here all dip to the southeast, mak¬ 
ing an angle of 10° with the plane of the horizon. The 
openings are near the top, and the iron ore appears at a 
lower level on the southeastern face of the ridge. The 
lower outcrops show an ore highly calcareous. Specimens 
taken from the higher outcrop on McKamey’s land, analyze 
as follows: 

Fossil Ore, ( McKamey’s Bank.) 


Water. . 1.02 

Silica.13.82 

Iron. 60.21 

Combined Oxygen.25.80 

Sulphur. 0.09 

Phosphorus. 0.72 


Easterly a few miles from McKamey’s, the ridge sepa¬ 
rates into two arms. A ligament on the lands of L. B. 
Dodson, Esq., unites the two arms. On this cross-ridge or 
ligament, the ore outcrops in large masses, at a much lower 
level than on McKamey's land, and shows a considerable 
amount of carbonate of lime in its composition. It is reg¬ 
ularly stratified, however, and the line of strike is nearly 
northeast and southwest, with a dip to the southeast. The 
outcrop shows a thickness of nearly five feet, but this ore is 
of no great value, except as a flux, owing to the predomi¬ 
nance of the carbonate of lime. About half-way this cross¬ 
ridge there occurs an anticlinal axis, the Dyestone ore ap¬ 
pearing just below a yellowish shale, within fifty feet of the 
top. On the southwest side of the main Eastanallee Bidge, 
there are said to be three distinct strata of the fossil ore, 
but I could only find two; the upper one being from 11 to 
18 inches thick, the lower one about the same. Upon the 









30 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


crest of a high hill, some twenty feet above the upper seam, 
is a considerable outcrop of excellent ore. Large blocks 
lie scattered about the field, which are probably the remnant 
of a third stratum which has been carried away by erosion. 

On the lands of Mr. Dodson, there is a spur running 
northwest from the main ridge, and nearly opposite the 
cross-ridge spoken of. Upon the western face of this spur, 
fossil ore appears in workable quantities, imbedded in a 
matrix of black siliceous earth and yellowish clay. The ore 
from this place is very beautiful, having a rich royal purple 
lustre. It occurs in square and angular blocks, in all sizes, 
up to that of a flour barrel. Fossils abound in it, such as 
crinoidal buttons, fragments of trilobites and small corals. 
It is very pure and is universally admired. An analysis 
gives the following: 

Fossil Ore, (Dodson’s Land.) 

Water. 1.32 

Silica.13.14 

Iron.60.03 

Combined Oxygen.25.72 

Sulphur. 0.024 

Phosphorus. 0.13 

In another ridge lying between the two arms, but farther to 
the northeast, a great mass of fossil ore appears on the side of 
the ridge, which will weigh many tons. It is four or five feet 
across, and lies in a bed of rocks that shows great disturb¬ 
ance. This ore is very hard, and judging from its appear¬ 
ance it is also very rich. Above there is a stratum of limestone 
deeply tinted with red. This outcrop is on the lands of 
Hon. N. Dodson. Northeast of this place outcrops of fossil 
ore are numerous in Eastanallee Ridge and its spurs and out¬ 
liers. Several of these, belonging to J. L. Carruth, are 
promising. One average sample analyzes as follows: 

Ore from Eastanallee Ridge. 

Water. L 10 

Silica.!!!.’!! !.7 .”i8!06 

Iron.... .56.58 

Combined Oxygen. 24.24 

Sulphur. 0 04 

Phosphorus. 0.63 














OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


31 


Two seams appear all along Eastanallee Ridge for many 
miles. The timber on the ridges is of very superior char¬ 
acter, while the soils are among the best in the State, and 
highly productive of the bread-grains. Water power is fur¬ 
nished by the numerous parallel streams which empty into 
the Hiwassee river, and railroad communication by the 
East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad. 

Several small deposits of brown hematite o.ccur on the 
hills near Riceville, but they are of no particular value, 
owing to their proximity to other and better iron ores. 

Near Thomas* bank some quarries of lithographic 
stone have been opened. In the present state of the litho¬ 
graphic and chromo-lithograpliic arts, the fine-grained and 
exceedingly rare stone, suitable for these purposes, is of great 
importance. The lithographic stone of Bavaria was award¬ 
ed a premium at Paris in 1865, and that of Solenhofen, 
Bavaria, is largely imported by the United States. Large 
deposits of this valuable stone are found in McMinn county, 
Tennessee, which are said to equal the Bavarian. If this 
be true, it will prove of inestimable value. It lies between 
two beds of variegated marble. The stratum is thought to 
run entirely through the county, but some of the stone is too 
hard for lithographic purposes. The best is found eight miles 
east of Athens, on the farm of Robert Cochrane, and a quarry 
has been opened by a Cincinnati company, which only pays 
a royalty of $250 per annum. It is sold for nearly the 
same price as the Bavarian stone. It is a calcareous and ar¬ 
gillaceous stone, formed of the finest sediment, of uniform 
texture, and possesses a pearl grey tint. The best variety 
of this stone has a conchoidal fracture, and is free from 
spots of all kinds. 

Lead Ore .—Lead occurs three miles south of Riceville, and 
at the present time (July, 1876,) quite a number of miners are 
at work, with a view of determining the extent and value of 
the deposit. The lead is desseminated in bunches or nests 



32 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


through the Trenton limestones. There are several ledges 
in which it is found embedded, and silver is reputed to exist 
in some of the specimens. The samples, however, which I 
procured, showed no trace of the precious metal. The lead 
occurs near the point where the Knox Dolomite forms the 
surface rock, and it is quite probable that the deposit exists 
in both formations. 

Hambright’s lead mine in Bradley county, has furnished 
a considerable amount of ore. It was extensively worked 
during the late war, but afterwards abandoned. At pres¬ 
ent, the water is being drained from the old shaft and en¬ 
tries, for the purpose of making additional examinations. 
A vein of twenty inches thick is reputed to exist, but for the 
truth of this statement I cannot vouch. 

Associated with the lead ore is baryta. Many heavy de¬ 
posits of this mineral are found on the hills near theHiwassee 
river. Four miles below Calhoun, on the point of a hill, one- 
half mile below the mouth of Mouse creek, on the east side of 
the river, in McMinn county, a bed of baryta forty feet 
thick has been found. Some of it is very white, and it will 
doubtless, some day form an extensive article of export. 

The lands in the lead and iron regions of McMinn county, 
are among the most valuable in the State. Heavily tim¬ 
bered, especially on the ridges, with long level stretches of 
bottoms, lying on the many small streams which flow down 
and form the Eastanallee, the principal artery of the valley, 
they produce extraordinary yields of corn, wheat, oats and 
hay. Some of the coves have a dark red, coarse, sandy 
soil, exceedingly fertile, and forming the best clover lands 
in the State. Here, in a good season, it is not uncommon 
to find clover growing six feet long, and covering the 
ground with a mat so thick, as to be unmanageable with 
the ordinary two-horse plow. Forty bushels of wheat per 
acre have been grown by the best farmers. As a stock¬ 
growing region, it is unsurpassed by any lands in East Ten- 





OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


33 


nessee. The Conesauga, Chestua and Eastanallee, all con¬ 
fluents of the Hiwassee, are famous for the excellence of 
their bottom lands, and in no place in the State is the toil 
of the husbandman better rewarded. 

Several manufacturing establishments have sprung up in 
McMinn county. Eureka Cotton Factory, situated on Ches¬ 
tua creek, employs about twenty operatives. It has 528 
spindles, and makes cotton yarns exclusively. Mount 
Verd, another cotton factory, three miles from Athens, on 
Mouse creek, employs about thirty operatives, and has 924 
spindles. About 300,000 dozen of cotton yarns are made 
annually at this place. Six cotton gins, two carding ma¬ 
chines, thirty-nine grist mills, and two planing mills are in 
the county, all propelled by water power. 

Among the many thrifty places that have sprung up 
through the intelligence and industry of che citizens of k the 
county may be mentioned as an example, Cog Hill, 13 miles 
south of Athens. This place is on Conesauga creek,“near 
the head of navigation of the Hiwassee. Here, within the 
past six years, have been built a flouring mill with a capac¬ 
ity of fifty barrels per day, a carding machine with a capac¬ 
ity of 300 pounds per day, a cotton gin, and a saw mill 
which furnishes a large section of country with lumber. 
The Conesauga, at this point, is narrow but deep, with steep 
banks. The dam constructed gives a head of ten feet of 
water, which supplies a power of fifty-horse throughout the 
year. The amount of wool grown in the county is about 
60,000 pounds per annum, of which, 15,000 pounds are an¬ 
nually made into rolls at Cog Hill. 

Lumber is cheap. Ten dollars per thousand is the price 
for inch lumber, the run of the mill; $12.50 for choice, 
and $15 for slats. Walnut brings at the mill, $25 per thou¬ 
sand; cherry, $20. 

Nothing, probably, shows the stimulating effects of man¬ 
ufacturing establishments, more than the gratifying results 
3 


34 OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 

obtained at this place. Before the erection of the cotton 
gin, there was scarcely a pound of cotton raised around Cog 
Hill. Now, 75,000 pounds are ginned annually, and the 
production is on the increase. As one of the effects of the 
saw mill, a furniture manufactory is now building, and 
many more industries will doubtless follow. 

The production of wheat is greatly increased, and tobacco 
will be largely cultivated hereafter. Several commercial es¬ 
tablishments have been established, and altogether, it is one 
of the thriftiest little places in the State. In 1864, it was 
occupied by Sherman, and at the close of the war the fences 
on the farms were gone, the fields a net-work of gullies, 
and the land almost entirely exhausted. Yet with all these 
disadvantages, under the inspiring influence of Mr. J. A. 
Turley and A. H. Lusk, and other progressive citizens, the 
gullies have disappeared from the surrounding farms, the 
zigzagged fences have been replaced by long lines of post 
and plank, and the land has quadrupled in its productive 
capacity. This has been done by sowing peas and clover, 
and by the use of the sub-soiler. A fresh life is infused into 
the whole neighborhood. Schools and churches have been 
erected. Cane Creek Academy, near the place, ranks among 
the best in East Tennessee. The buildings about the place 
are of modern architecture, neat and comfortable, and there 
are such evidences of industry, that no better example can be 
given of what may be done at a thousand places in East 
Tennessee, with like energy and systematized effort. Hard 
times are unknown in such places, because every one from 
the toddling boy to the gray-haired sire, can find suitable 
employment at the various manufacturing establishments. 
Ease, comfort and plenty, with cheerfulness, intelligence, 
and a lively faith in the future, characterize the entire 
neighborhood. 

No county in the State is blessed with more of the ele¬ 
ments of a high civilization than McMinn. Its ores, its 






OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


35 


streams, its timber, the fecundity of its soil, the intelligence 
of its population, its facilities for transportation, its health- 
fnlness, its numerous schools of learning, and the high tone 
of its press, all foreshadow the time when the county will 
be famed throughout the South for its enterprising industry 
and accumulated wealth. 

Turning now our course to the southwest, we pass numer¬ 
ous cherty ridges, and along fertile valleys, until we reach 
a most interesting mineral section at 

WHITE OAK MOUNTAIN. 

White Oak Mountain lies in the southern part of the 
Valley of East Tennessee, in James and Bradley counties, 
about fifteen miles east of Chattanooga. Its northern point 
is five or six miles south of Hiwassee river, and extends to 
the Georgia line, some twenty miles distant, where it takes 
the name of Taylor’s Ridge. Its highest points are about 
400 feet above the valleys. The western edge is continuous, 
with no spurs, but the eastern side is scolloped by deep 
coves, and by a succession of spurs which make out at right 
angles from the main ridge, like the teeth of a saw. Lying 
parallel with the main mountain, on the eastern side, and a 
quarter of a mile from the eastern points of the projecting 
spurs is another ridge, which I have named Hindi’s Ridge. 
This is not so high by 150 feet as the White Oak Moun¬ 
tain proper. Hindi’s Ridge extends north from the rail¬ 
road six or seven miles, and is finally united by a ligament 
with White Oak Mountain. The valley, half a mile wide, 
lying between the two, furnishes some productive areas. 
Hindi’s Ridge is deflected to the left near the railroad by 
Grindstone Mountain, an egg-shaped outlier that rises boldly 
up and extends southward for two miles. 

The Nashville and Lebanon limestones girt the base of 
White Oak Mountain, and the sub-carboniferous the eastern 
edge. The Mountain is made up mainly of a series of shales 


36 OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 

and sandstones, the latter being mostly fine grained, thick and 
thin bedded, reddish brown, with reddish and pale green 
shales. Overlying these sandstones and shales, is the Dye- 
stone group, composed of red and greenish shales, with 
thin beds of sandstones and fossil red hematite. 

Above the Dyestone group are the Black Shale and the 
Siliceous Group of the Lower Carboniferous. The Dye- 
stone group and the sandstones and shales belong to the 
Niagara of the Upper Silurian. The thickness of all the 
formations indicated in the mountain is about one thousand 
feet. Of these the transition beds resting upon the Nash¬ 
ville rocks is about 300 feet; White Oak Mountain Sandstone, 
400 feet; Dyestone group, 200 feet; Black Shale, 20 feet; 
Siliceous group, 80 feet. The strata dip at an angle of 
about 30° and the measurements were sometimes difficult, 
owing to the variation in dip. The thickness of the strata 
is much greater than the height of the mountain. 

Beginning with Hindi’s Ridge, four miles northeast of 
Ooltewah, the county seat of James, and which, as before 
mentioned, is an outlier of White Oak Mountain on the 
east, we find extensive deposits of Dyestone ore on its west¬ 
ern face. The rocks of this ridge are the same as those of 
the White Oak Mountain and Dyestone formations. Sev¬ 
eral seams of Dyestone make in part the layers of the syn¬ 
clinal trough which forms the northivestern face of Hindi’s 
Ridge. (See map.) 

Excvations have been made on the face of the ridge 
facing White Oak Mountain, where the following section 
was taken, beginning with the lowest and ascending. It 
may be remarked that the lowest strata outcrop the highest 


on the side of the ridge. 

White Oak Mountain Sandstone.Unknown. 

Soft gray sandy shale... 1 ft. 9 in. 

Dyestone ore, dark purple. 1 ft. 

Soft brown shale. 1 ft. 4 in. 

Dyestone ore, dark red... 1 ft. 3 in. 








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OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 37 


Gray sandstone and shale. 3 ft. 

Ore, Dyestone.. 1 ft. 1 in. 

Greenish, soft picking shale. 2 ft. 2 in. 

Ore, Dyestone. 2 in. 

Gray and green hard shale. 1 ft. 6 in. 

Ore, Dyestone. 2 in. 

Blue calcareous shale, very hard. 1 ft. 2 in. 

Ore, Dyestone. 1 in. 

Shale and sandstone.18 ft. 

Ore. 11 in. 

Greenish calcareous shales.Undetermined. 


The synclinal trough is not more than 300 feet across, 
and two or more wrinkles are found in going westward 
across the valley that lies between the ridge and White Oak 
Mountain. 

The ore at the bank where the section was taken has been 
worked for two years. The excavations have been carried 
from the valley upward for 150 feet. The average amount 
mined is two tons per day for each man. After the bank 
has been well opened, it is thought double that amount can 
be raised without difficulty. The hard, blue, calcareous 
shale, with which the ore is interstratified, cannot be worked 
with a pick, but must be separated by blasting powder. 
The ore is often found adhering by a well defined line, 
to the calcareous shale, and not easily separable. 

From this mine a tramway has been constructed to a 
point lower down the valley, and from thence the ore is 
hauled by wagons to the East Tennessee, Virginia & Geor¬ 
gia Bailroad. The price paid at present for raising ore is 30 
cents per ton, and it is sold, delivered on the cars, at $1.25 
per ton. The cost of shipping to Chattanooga is 75 cents 
per ton, making the ore delivered at Chattanooga cost 
$2.00 per ton. 

At the distance of 400 yards south of this bank, and 
across a little ravine that makes a notch in the western side 
of the ridge, several openings have been made, which give 
a good display to the ore. In these the strata dip at a 
















38 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


higher angle than in the openings first mentioned. On the 
crest of the ridge the seam is almost perpendicular, deflect¬ 
ing however, more and more to the west as the excavations 
are deepened, until it turns and dips in the opposite direc¬ 
tion. The ore at the outcrop on the crest of the hill is 
very hard and fossiliferous, abounding in casts of crinoidal 
buttons, fragments of coral, trilobites, bryozoa and oolitic 
bodies. At this place the seam is ten inches thick. The 
outcrops of several other seams appear on the ridge, but 
only one has been worked. 

Near the crest of this ridge is a series of sandstones, some 
of which are beautifully laminated with smooth surfaces, suit¬ 
able for flagstones. Many of these sandstones make good 
whetstones, others are hard and difficult to work. 

North of the first bank described, are two other openings, 
where the ore does not differ in position or quality. The 
seams are often warped, making changes in the angle of dip 
of several degrees. 

In the basin of Wolf Cleaver creek, which runs Mown 
the valley between Hindi's Nidge and White Oak Moun¬ 
tain, the wrinkles or folds are easily traced. The bed of 
the creek shows a second synclinal, making the distance 
from the bottom of the synclinal, where the ore has been 
mined, to the bottom of the one in the creek about 300 
feet. The bed of the stream is filled with blocks of Dye- 
stone ore, and seams of it are found outcropping in the 
eroded banks. 

It may here be mentioned, that the ore is always purest 
where it is highest above water level. It becomes in the 
bottoms of the synclinals more calcareous, and does not sep¬ 
arate so easily from the containing rocks. 

The ridges and coves generally in the vicinity of White 
Oak Mountain, as well as the main mountain itself, are 
heavily timbered, except upon the immediate outcrops of 
the ore. The trees most abundant on the ridges, are pop¬ 
lar, oak, chestnut, pine and hickory. 



OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


39 


One mile above the point where the Wolf Cleaver crosses 
the road, and two miles above the place where the section 
was taken, the Black Shale or Devonian formation makes it 
appearance near the bed of the stream, with the Siliceous 
group lying above. At this place one entry has been run 
into the shale by some persons, in the vain effort to find 
coal, an expenditure of money which a slight knowledge of 
geology would have saved. The ridges formed by the over- 
lying crest, are much steeper than those containing the Dye- 
stone ore. " 

Three miles higher up the valley, which continually nar¬ 
rows, and at some points is almost cut in two by project¬ 
ing spurs, the ligament mentioned as uniting Hindi’s 
Ridge with White Oak Mountain occurs. This is called 
the “ Dividing Ridge,” and is the watershed between the 
head of the Wolf Cleaver and Wolf Pond Branch. The 
latter stream flows in a northerly direction, debouching into 
the Savannah Valley, and pouring its waters into the Sa¬ 
vannah Creek three miles below, leaving White Oak Moun¬ 
tain on the east. Two miles above its mouth, and at a 
point where it passes out, by a deep defile, from White Oak 
Mountain, a beautiful fossil ore is found upon the lands of 
Alexander Mahan. It covers all the western slope of the 
mountain, and lies in the beds of the stream in rounded 
blocks. Some of it resembles specular ore, showing fine 
steely shining points, and contains no perceptible fossils. 
When broken these fine steely points are displayed in great 
beauty, set in a reddish, compact ground. Several ledges 
are said to occur on the slope of the mountain, but I was 
unable to find them. I traced the blocks of ore quite 500 
feet up the mountain side. Half way down the mountain I 
found in an exposed bluff, two or three thin seams inter- 
stratified with a bluish, calcareous shale, but the largest 
blocks are found, 200 feet or more above this, on the bluff. 
The timber where the surface ore is most abundant is very 


40 OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 

scant, consisting of a few scrubby pines and chestnuts. 
The outcropping rocks are mainly yellowish shale and whit¬ 
ish sandstones, with smooth, almost polished surfaces. 

The strata here are nearly horizontal. Large, thick lay¬ 
ers of red sandstones appear near the base of the mountain, 
and the timber is very fine, large poplars and oaks being 
abundant. 

Returning to Hinch’s bank from which the tramway is 
constructed, and crossing over the Wolf Cleaver Valley 
westward, we entered upon an examination of the ores of 
White Oak Mountain proper. 

Between the ridge and the mountain, the carboniferous 
limestones outcrops in layers nearly horizontal. This val¬ 
ley extends down to the crossing of the railroad, and is shut 
in on the south by Grindstone Mountain, an eastern outlier 
of White Oak Mountain. This outlier deflects the course 
of Hinch’s Ridge, as has been mentioned, to the east, the 
Grindstone Mountain being, as it were, a knob two miles 
long and one mile wide, running up in the expanded valley. 
It may be mentioned, that the ore is found for several 
miles further down in Hindi’s Ridge. 

The first outcrop of Dyestone, inspected in White Oak 
Mountain, is at the margin of a little branch west of Mr. 
Hinch’s house. The reader should bear in mind that the 
whole eastern edge of White Oak Mountain sends out pro¬ 
jecting spurs, a half mile or more in length, and between 
the spurs usually small streams of water flow down to the 
Wolf Cleaver, a tributary of Ooltewah creek a confluent of 
Tennessee^ river. On the little streams mentioned, the strata 
dip at an angle of about 15° to the southeast. Further 
down the branch the dip becomes greater. 

The following section was taken by beginning near the 
head of the branch and tracing it downwards: 


Cherty masses. 60 ft. 

Limestone, carboniferous.15 ft. 

Sandy brown shales.50 ft. 





OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


41 


Thin bedded, hard sandstones. 5 ft. 2 in. 

Sandy shales, dark brown. 18 in. 

Ore, Dyestone.. 1 ft. 7 in. 

Hard blue sandstone. 2 ft. 2 in. 

Ore, Dyestone. 4 in. 

Thin blue sandy shales. 2 ft. 4 in. 

Ore, Dyestoe. 1J in. 

Yellow and blue thin sandy shales. 6 in. 

Blue and yellow flagstones, from 4 to 18 inches thick, 

some of them good whetstone grit. 3 ft. 6 in. 


From this point'the strata are covered with debris of 
sandstones and shales, with blocks of iron ore. Crossing 
over the point of this spur northward, the surface of 
which is covered with masses of dark colored chert, we 
descend into another ravine half mile distant. The north¬ 
eastern face of the spur is covered with blocks of brown 
hematite of good quality. This ore is nearly compact with 
some particles of embedded, sparry matter, and casts of cri- 
noidal stems. On the slope of the hill sixty feet above, 
blocks of brown hematite stick out from the surface, and it 
is quite possible that a rich ore bank might be opened here. 

The ore lies embedded in a mass of chert and yellow 
clay. A fine outcrop of mountain limestone 61 feet thick, 
with veins of calcareous spar presents itself, in this second 
gorge. The strata here dips at an angle of 60°. 

From this point passing northward over another spur, we 
found the Dyestone ore cropping out at the margin of a 
small stream which flows eastward into Wolf Cleaver creek. 
The seam at this place is six inches thick, and lies between 
gray sandstones. The ore is of first rate quality. 

Returning to the bed of the stream from which the last 
section was taken, immediately west of the residence of Mr. 
Hinch, and passing over another spur on the south, to 
another ravine, the Dyestone seam is found outcropping on 
the northern slope of the second spur, dipping as the other 
seams in the main mountain, toward the southeast. The 
spurs on each side of this ravine rise to the height of 225 











42 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


feet. They have rounded tops, and the seams on each side 
of the gorge are easily traced. In the spur lying on the 
north, a splendid outcrop appears on the very crest. It cov¬ 
ers the surface for several yards, and may be seen all the way 
down the slopes of the ridge. The ore is of excellent appear¬ 
ance, free from calcareous matter, and easily broken with a 
hammer, but sufficiently hard to bear transportation well. 
Judging from the thickness of the blocks, the main seam 
must be from 15 to 18 inches thick, with evidences of other 
seams above and below. As is usual upon the outcrops of 
the ore, the timber is thin and scrubby. A few hundred 
yards, however, west, I noticed among other growths, yellow 
pine, chestnut, chestnut-oak, black gum, sweet gum, hickory, 
red oak, post oak, white oak, yellow poplar, with ash and 
sugar tree in depressions. Where the spurs unite with the 
main mountain, the timber is very heavy, and would yield 
60 to 80 cords per acre. The same may be said of the slopes 
of the main axis. Tan-bark is procured in considerable 
quantities, and is one of the industries of this section. 
Fifty cents per acre is paid for the privilege of getting it. 
One dollar per cord is paid for cutting the trees and peeling 
and piling the bark, and $1.75 per cord for hauling it to 
the railroad, making the cost of delivering it upon the cars, 
$3.25 per cord. The price paid by dealers varies from $3.00 
to $4.00 per cord. The price in Chattanooga is $6.00. 
Chestnut oak furnishes the best bark, as well as the largest 
quantity. 

The outcrop of ore was traced southwardly several miles. 
South of Hindi’s residence one mile, the Black Shale out¬ 
crops in a valley on the farm of William Sanders. The hill 
rising above this outcrop of Black Shale is composed of chert, 
with occasional nodules of brown hematite. On the west 
side of the valley where the Black Shale appears, and half 
mile northwest of the residence of William Sanders, in 
James county, (all the other banks spoken of are in Brad- 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


4a 


ley,) a large outburst of Dyestone appears on a spur 
coming out eastward from the main axis of White Oak 
Mountain. The lead appears on the surface twenty feet 
wide. Its general course is westward but turns southward 
upon the main axis. It is quite probable that it here forms 
the top of an anticlinal fold. At all events, the finest expos¬ 
ure of ore found on the mountain is here presented. Thou¬ 
sands of tons could be gathered on the surface. From the 
crest to the valley below, the surface is rugged with great 
blocks of ore, many of them weighing four or five hundred 
pounds each. The ore is highly fossiliferous. Various 
openings have been made on the north and south faces of 
the spur, every one of which reveals ore. The ore lies in a 
stratum running parallel with the sides of the mountain,, 
but two or three feet beneath the surface. 

A little further westward, but lying still on the eastern 
face of the mountain, is the Sanders’ bank, two and a half 
miles from Ooltewah. At this place considerable mining 
has been done. Here, also, the ore lies parallel with the 
face of the mountain, with about four feet of stripping, 
which consists of clay and shale. The ore at this bank is 
one foot one inch thick. Some 250 tons were lying piled 
up in the valley at the time of my visit. The amount of 
ore taken out has, thus far, exceeded the other material re¬ 
moved. One man can easily strip and mine at this bank 
six tons of ore per day. The overlying dirt and shale are 
shoveled down into the bottom of the ravine, by which the ore 
is exposed with a smooth surface like an inclined floor. It is 
easily broken up and slided down to the wagon-way below. 
It is estimated that the actual cost of mining here will not 
exceed twenty-five cents per ton. From the bank to the 
East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia Railroad, half mile dis¬ 
tant, there is an easy grade of not more than 100 feet to the 
mile. 

On the same spur facing Grindstone Mountain, the ore 


44 OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 

outcrops in a cornfield, and is so abundant that it has been 
used in the construction of a chimney, to a cabin situated 
in the field. 

Crossing the railroad near the gap where it passes White 
Oak Mountain, and ascending a steep mountain spur run¬ 
ning parallel with the main line of White Oak Mountain, 
and lying on the east side of it, the ore outcrops in a curv¬ 
ing line from the valley, high up on the western side of the 
spur. Three seams are here presented, separated from one 
another by sandy shales. The upper one is nine inches 
thick, and overlying it are thin sandstones. The second 
seam, two and a half feet below, is three inches thick. 
Seven inches of shale intervene between this and the lowest. 

A few hundred yards higher up on the mountain, the fol¬ 
lowing section was taken from above, down : 


Surface and shale. 2 ft. 

Ore. 10 in. 

Shale, green and yellow.. 2 ft. 5 in. 

Ore. 1 in. 

Shale. 7 in. 

Ore. 6 in. 


From this it would appear that the seams are not alto¬ 
gether uniform in thickness. All the strata here dip to the 
southeast, at an angle of about 30°. Mining has been done 
on the surface of the mountain for the distance 711 feet. 
A tramway has also been constructed around the face of the 
mountain, by which the ore is conveyed to a chute which 
carries it to the cars on the railroad below. 

Only three or four feet of the seam have been taken out. 
No extensive mining can be done here without drifting down 
with the dip of the seam, and then working the seams out 
laterally. The ore can then be pulled up by horse power or 
a stationary engine. The present system is “ patchwork ” 
and cannot be conducted much longer with profit. Situated 
so conviently to the railroad this mine must with competent 
engineering skill, prove very valuable, unless the ore should 
prove too calcareous. 








OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


45 


Very fine surface ore is collected on the opposite slope of 
this ridge, the quality being superior to that taken from the 
mines. Several openings have been made in these seams 
south of this place. Riggings Bank, on the west side of 
White Oak Mountain, furnishes ore of excellent quality. 
Tallant’s Bank lies on the east side. From this bank to the 
Georgia line the ore is found in the main mountain. Its 
abundance and the cheapness with which it can be mined,, 
the great forests which cover, with their leafy canopy the 
thousand mountains, ridges, hills and valleys, supplying un¬ 
limited material for charcoal, the means of transportation 
offered by rail and water, all these point out this locality as 
a future seat for charcoal furnaces. The fertile valleys that 
run in long strips between the ridges, will supply ample 
quantities of provender and provisions to sustain a large 
manufacturing population. After such furnaces shall have 
been built, the agriculture of the valleys will be endowed 
with fresh vigor, the waste places will be reclaimed, herds 
of cattle and flocks of sheep will browse over the sunny 
slopes where the wild grasses grow luxuriantly and sup¬ 
ply abundant forage, and a heightened energy will then be 
imparted to the whole region. 

Grindstone Mountain has been spoken of. It takes its 
name from the existence of heavily bedded, cream colored 
sandstones upon its top, from which excellent grindstones 
are made. Some of its strata are nearly level, others dip at 
a very high angle. 

White Oak Mountain proper does not extend north of 
Hiwassee riyer, but there is a group of low ridges which 
begins a few miles north ot the Hiwassee and extends to the 
Tennessee river near Kingston. This group of ridges be¬ 
longs to the Dyestone formation, and displays one of the 
finest outcrops of ore to be found in the State. Beginning 
at WelckeFs ridge, three miles south* of Kingston, we 
have a most interesting section. WelckeFs ridge may be 


46 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


called the extreme northern terminus of the White Oak 
Mountain. It extends southwardly for twelve miles to Ten 
Mile, where it is cut by the Sewee, but afterwards resumes 
its course for several miles, extending in a south-west 
direction. Welcher’s ridge, near Kingston, lies between 
Riley’s Creek on the west and Stamp Creek on the east. 
It is composed, for the most part, of a trio of ridges. The 
western ridge is about 300 feet high and is continuous. 
The eastern ridge is probably 100 feet lower and is also 
unbroken, but the middle ridge passes backwards and for¬ 
wards from the western to the eastern, running sometimes 
nearly parallel, and then again nearly perpendicular. At the 
northern end, near the river, there is a hollow running 
southward half a mile and separating the western ridge 
from the middle. The Dyestone seam is found here in the 
middle and eastern ridges, but does not appear on the 
western ridge within half a mile of the river. Beyond this 
it may be seen in the western ridge, lying nearly parallel 
with its eastern slope and cropping out on the crest and in 
the bed of a little stream that washes its eastern foot. 
Usually it is from four to six feet beneath the surface. Its 
thickness on the western ridge varies from three to four 
feet. 

A large amount of surface ore occurs on the eastern slope. 
Thousands of tons could be collected. The slopes are well 
covered with timber—pine, black oak and chestnut consti¬ 
tuting the principal trees. In the gorges cut by the streams 
some very large yellow poplars are seen. 

The stratum of ore dips eastward in the western ridge, 
passes entirely under the middle range, and crops out on 
the very top of the eastern ridge, being in this nearly per¬ 
pendicular, with a slightly western dip, making a grand 
synclinal, which holds in its centre the middle ridge. 

The outcrop of ore in the bed of the small stream that 
flows between the western and middle ridges, has a parting 





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OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 47 

of sandstone seven inches thick, one foot and nine inches of 
ore lying below the sandstone and three feet six inches 
above. That below the sandstone is singularly free from 
calcite, which is a rare occurrence where the ore is found 
below water level. The ore, both below and above the 
sandstone, is very hard and compact. Fossils do not ap¬ 
pear to exist in it to the same extent as in the ores taken 
from other places. 

In the third or most eastern ridge of the trio, the outcrop 
is very thick. At one place, where a branch from a cha¬ 
lybeate spring passes through a gap, there is an outcrop of 
nine feet eight inches of ore, with a parting of sandstone 
one foot thick. Nor is this an exceptional thickness. On 
the slope of the hill, thirty feet above, the ore and sand¬ 
stone parting measure 10 feet 6 inches. The same outcrop 
continues for miles southward, and extends to the Tennes¬ 
see river on the north. The ore, as it appears in the hill, 
is more porous and frangible than that in the bed of the 
creek below. It is easily mined, and is doubtless an excel¬ 
lent ore. A bed of sandstone 37 feet thick lies below the 
seam at this point, and 52 feet of shale above. 

This is the best development of the Dyestone ore that I 
have met with in the State, though there are places in the 
Half Moon Island region, to be mentioned hereafter, with 
seams nearly as thick. Thirty thousand tons to the acre 
can be taken from this seam, supposing the ore to form a 
stratum parallel with the slope of the ridge. This large 
outcrop is about one mile from the Tennessee river and 
four miles from Kingston. The grade to the river is easy, 
and a tramway constructed from the ore to the river would 
give an easy outlet. 

One mile further south an opening has been made, which 
shows the same thickness of ore, and another seam above 
of equal thickness. The dip of the second seam is reversed. 


48 OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 

It is probably the top of a decapitated fold, the two seams 
being really one and the same. 

One of the most valuable deposits of Dyestone ore in the 
district occurs across the Tennessee river, twelve miles south¬ 
west of Kingston and nine miles south of Rockwood. A 
little mining town, called Ironton, has been built up at this 
place, which contains a population varying from fifty to 
one hundred. The ore is in a synclinal seven miles in 
length, lying ,in Roane, Rhea and Meigs counties. It 
outcrops in two lines, one on the east and the other on the 
west; the latter running through Half Moon Island and 
crossing the river below. Ironton is situated at the north¬ 
ern end of this synclinal, and a description of the manner 
in which the ore occurs and its general appearance at this 
place, will give a very good idea of the Half Moon Island 
region. At Ironton, the synclinal is only a few hundred 
yards across, the lines of outcrop, however, diverging as they 
extend south, like the edges of a yawl. The ore, regularly 
stratified, lies on both sides of a hollow, from four to six 
feet beneath the surface. The slope of the hill on the 
eastern side of the hollow is more abrupt and the ore dips 
at an angle of about thirty degrees. On the western slope, 
the dip is about fifteen degrees, thus making the synclinal 
with sides unequally sloped. On the western slope the ore 
lies in troughs running from the top of the slope to the 
bottom, forming a series of waves, or rather, decapitated 
folds. In the lowest parts of the great synclinal, the ore 
disappears or gives place to a limestone. At Ironton, the 
ore is highly fossiliferous, of a very dark brown color, in¬ 
deed almost black, disintegrates rapidly by exposure, yet is 
very free from calcareous matter. Ten thousand tons of 
merchantable ore is taken from an acre. The following 
are analyses of it: 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


49 


Peroxide of iron.76.96 

Alumina. 8.04 

Lime. 1.09 

Silica. 9.53 

Phosphorus.49 

Water, carbonic acid, etc. 5.00 


98.11 

Metallic iron. 51.77 

Another analysis shows some variation : 

Peroxide of iron..75.00 

Alumina. 6.81 

Lime.00 

Silica.13.00 

Phosphorus.59 

Water, carbonic acid, etc. 4.60 


100.00 

Metallic iron.52.50 


At present half the ore worked at Lockwood is obtained 
at this place. Twenty miners are kept employed. The 
price paid for mining is forty cents per ton. The quantity 
raised by each man averages about 3J tons per day. At 
the time of my visit about 3,000 tons were lying piled up, 
awaiting transportation. The ore is carried by a tramroad 
one mile long, to the river, put on barges and floated down 
to Lockwood Landing. The price paid for delivery upon 
the cars at Eockwood Landing is two dollars per ton. 
It is understood that the Eoane Iron Manufacturing Com¬ 
pany have made a contract, to take effect in 1877, by which 
it is to be supplied with ore at $1.50 per ton. The ore for 
this contract is to be dug about 250 yards south-west of 
Ironton. Here numerous shafts have been sunk, which 
reveal ore from four to five feet in thickness. The ore 
outcrops higher up the hill. A few hundred yards further 
south the ore is found in an old field, and at this point was 
worked before the war. On the margins of little streams 
below the old field it shows itself in great ledges, but these 
ledges near the water always have a considerable amount 
of calcite in composition. 

Opposite White’s Creek Island, which is just below Half 
4 


















50 OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISXRICT. 

Moon Island, there is a great abundance of ore, which lies 
in the same synclinal and shows a thickness of from five to 
six feet. Near this point the synclinal crosses the river, 
and the ore is found on both sides; the river running for 
some distance in the synclinal. 

The beds of ore on Half Moon Island and on the main 
land are extensive and valuable, and probably at no point 
in the State will they sooner be brought into service. 

The fossil ores of Meigs county are very abundant, and 
are found in the same range of hills with Welcker’s ridge 
and White Oak Mountain, and disposed in a similar way. 
These ores were worked in forges for many years. 

Brown hematite also exists in large deposits on Ball Play 
creek, in Monroe county. This stream, a tributary of 
Little Tennessee, is near its mouth parallel with Tellico 
river and is separated from it by high ridges. 

We have now passed over the most interesting iron re¬ 
gions in the Ocoee and Hiwassee districts. It remains be¬ 
fore our trip is finished, to give a detailed account of the 
copper and coal districts. 

COPPER DISTRICT. 

The copper district of Tennessee lies in Polk county, in 
the south-eastern corner of the State. It occupies an ele¬ 
vated mountain basin 1770 feet above the sea, containing 
about forty square miles. Frog Mountain bounds it on the 
south-west. On the east and south-east great ridges cov¬ 
ered with dark forests hem in the valley, while on the south 
the mountains melt down to low hills. The surface of 
Copper Valley is not smooth, but roughened by rounded 
hills, whose slopes are often studded with huge blocks of 
gneissoid rocks and metamorphic slates. Away fcom the 
smelting works these hills are not devoid of beauty, some 
of them being quite symmetrical in shape and covered with 
wild mountain grasses, and in spring enameled with flowers 
of various hues. Near the furnaces all vegetation has been 



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OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


51 


killed by the poisonous fumes of sulphurous acid gas that es¬ 
capes from the works. The hills are bare and cheerless. A 
few dead trees stand in all their nakedness and present a pic¬ 
ture of painful desolation and decay. For miles around, the 
country has been denuded of timber, which has been used 
in the manufacture of charcoal. 

The Ocoee, which has already been spoken of, flows 
through the southern part of the copper district. Numer¬ 
ous small tributaries intersect the valley and cut deep gaps 
between the rounded gneissoid hills. The strata dip at 
high angles to the south-east, and the formation belongs to 
the metamorphic group of the Lower Silurian. Talcose 
and chloritic slates and micaceous schists abound, and at 
places good roofing slates occur.. 

The copper ores occur in three belts or veins, separated 
at intervals of a half a mile or more. The veins are capped 
by'gossan, an impure siliceous brown hematite. Specimens 
of malachite and azurite are found just below the gossan. 
Black copper or Tenorite comes next, and lies with its top 
surface conformably to the contour of the ground. It is 
from two to eight feet thick, but nearly all this has been 
worked out. Iron pyrite and copper pyrite follow. 
The gossan is from 20 to 80 feet thick; black copper, 2 to 
8; copper pyrite, unknown. Nine-tenths of the ore now 
worked at Ducktown are yellow copper ores or copper py¬ 
rite, a sulphid of copper and iron, having a brass yellow 
color, and when pure containing about 34 per cent, of cop¬ 
per; but as found in the mines, rarely exceeding four or 
five per cent. 

At present there are three companies owning property 
in the copper district, viz: 

1. Union Consolidated Mining Company. 

2. Burra Burra Copper Company. 

3. Polk County Copper Company. 

Besides several individual owners. 


52 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEP: MINERAL DISTRICT. 


Of these, the Union Consolidated Company only is at 
work. The mining is done mainly at the Mary Mine and 
East Tennessee Mine, both belonging to the Union Con¬ 
solidated. (See map.) 

Mary Mine .—This is situated three and a half miles south 
of the smelting works, with which it is connected by a 
narrow gauge railroad. This mine was opened in 1852.. 
The black copper, whieh occupied a width of from six to 
forty feet, and a thickness of from one to ten feet, has been 
worked out for three quarters of a mile along the vein.. 
Between 70 and 80 hands are kept employed at this mine. 
Common laborers receive $1.06 per day; miners, $38.25 
per month. About 600 tons of yellow copper and 35 of 
black copper are raised every month. Drilling is done by 
contract, the rate paid being 2| cents per foot. For sinking 
shafts, $155 per fathom is paid. The ore lies imbedded in 
a hard hornblendic rock. Gold, siver, zinc, galena, calcite, 
quartz, hornblende, molybdinite, actinolite, mispickle and 
iron are all found in small quantities, and iron pyrite in 
great abundance. 

After being mined the ore is broken into small lumps 
and thrown into a stamp battery of ten stamps, each weigh¬ 
ing 400 lbs., and falls by gravity a distance of ten inches. 
The battery is worked by a N turbine wheel, driven by a 
small mountain stream. One and a half tons of ore per 
day is crushed by each stamp, or fifteen tons to the battery. 
The ore passes from the battery into the jigs, which separate 
the gangue from the copper. The Mary Mine is drained 
by a pump of 100 gallons capacity, driven by an engine of 
40 horse power. The ores of the Mary Mine, which is in 
the eastern belt, are what are called basic ores and contain 
iron and lime with copper. The ores of the western belt 
are more siliceous, and have a siliceous slate and hornblende 
for a gangue. The ores of the middle belt contain more 
hornblende and quartz than those of the Mary Mine, and 
less than those of the East Tennessee Mine. 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


53 


East Tennessee Mine .—This mine lies one mile north of 
the smelting works. The lowest depth reached is 470 feet. 
The quantity raised per month is 300 tons, nearly all yellow 
copper. About 4 per cent, of the ores raised are thrown 
away. Ninety-two men are employed in and about this 
mine. Drillers are paid 2 cents per inch. Powder is fur¬ 
nished by the Company, but the miners furnish their own 
lights. Six engineers are employed, one at $45 per month, 
two at $40, one at $30, and two at $1 per day. The Su¬ 
perintendent of mining operations is paid $75 per month. 
The mine is drained by a pump driven by an engine of 25 
horse power, which has a capacity of 100 gallons per minute, 
though about half its capacity only is required. 

The containing rock or gangue of this mine is hornblendic 
slate, or sometimes siliceous slate. It is very hard and 
difficult to drill. The walls are not well defined, and the 
copper ores occur in small masses disseminated through the 
gangue, sometimes rich, often poor, rarely ever exceeding 
five or six per cent. A small quantity of black ore occurs 
in pockets, and sometimes a little native copper in bunches, 
distributed through decomposed quartz. At the present time 
the larger part of the ore is taken from the vein at the depth 
of 400 feet. All the ore is brought to the surface by steam, 
through a deep shaft. As the depth of the shaft increases, 
stations are established at certain distances, usually at in¬ 
tervals of 75 or 100 feet. From these stations tunnels are 
driven into the vein for the purpose of exploration or ex¬ 
traction. When a good body of ore has been reached by 
means of these tunnels, it is stoped out overhead and the 
ore carried in cars to the shaft. There are four or five of 
these levels established in the East Tennessee Mine, in each 
one of which more or less mining is done. 

Louden Mine .—This mine lies a short distance west of 
the East Tennessee Mine. It has eight shafts and four 
adits. The eastern adit has well defined walls of talcose 


54 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


slate. This vein has enclosed “ horses” or pieces of wall- 
rock, which make “ partings.” From this mine was taken 
a deposit of black copper 70 feet wide and ten feet thick. 
It was called the “ goose nest.” The shafts vary in depth 
from 40 to 130 feet. Twenty-five men are kept employed- 
Miners are paid $45 per month; drillers 2J cents per foot. 
None of the ores are smelted, however, the owner, Capt. 
J. E. Raht, having no smelting works at his command. 
The ores are thus disposed of: 1st. The poor mundic ores 
are carried to the Eureka Mine and roasted, preparatory to 
lixiviating them with water from the mine. 2d. The bet¬ 
ter ores are piled up to be smelted hereafter. These in¬ 
clude the black ores and the better yellow ores. 

Eureka Mine .—Nothing is done at this mine except 
pumping up the mine water and passing it through a long 
trough or channel that doubles on itself once or twice. In 
this trough scraps of wrought iron are placed, and the cop¬ 
per is precipitated from the water on the iron, the sulphuric 
acid of the copper uniting with the iron, forming the sul¬ 
phate of iron, which runs off with the water, liberating the 
copper. Usually about one pound of copper is obtained 
for every two pounds of iron used. Wrought scrap iron is 
used in preference, because it contains no carbon or other 
impurities. Cast iron makes less than wrought iron, three 
pounds of that being required for every pound of precipitate 
copper. Wrought iron (scrap) costs delivered about If 
cents per pound. By this process of precipitation about 
2,500 lbs. of metallic copper are collected every month. 
While the mines were worked, the amount of precipitate 
copper was as high as 9,000 lbs. per month. The Eureka 
Mine is the only one that furnishes water so saturated with 
copper as to make this process profitable. In this mine, 
where the ore is exposed, oxidation is going on at a rapid 
rate. The heat generated in the mine is so great that a 
person is scarcely able to pass through. 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 55 

The precipitate copper yields about 80 per cent, of re¬ 
fined copper. The pump which brings up the water from 
the mine is driven by a water wheel having a shafting one- 
eighth of a mile long. 

Polk County Company’s Mine .—This is not worked at 
present, but formerly produced a large amount of black 
copper. Experiments made with the diamond drill showed 
good yellow ores. This Company had four blast furnaces, 
and two reverberatory furnaces, besides an interest in the 
refining works of the Union Consolidated Company. 

Burra Burra Company .—This Company commenced 
operations in 1859, but met with serious losses and had to 
suspend. The first copper found in the district was on the 
lands which now belong to this Company. Upon the 
property are four blast furnaces, two calcining furnaces, 
and two shafts—one 240 feet deep, and the other 400. 
The ores are thought to be very good, mostly yellow ores. 

Tennessee Mine .—This was worked for four or five years 
for black ores only, after which the property became the 
subject of litigation, and at present the court charges and 
lawyers’ fees will probably consume its entire value. Ori¬ 
ginally this was school property, and was valued at one 
time at $200,000. The School Commissioners leased it to 
a Company for an annual sum, which was to go to the sup¬ 
port of the public schools. The action of the Commission¬ 
ers was not sustained, and to get the property transferred 
back to the original owners required the expenditure of its 
entire value. 

The vein on this property is three-quarters of a mile long. 
The black ores are now exhausted, and the mine has no 
future, with its overshadowing indebtedness. 

An opening has been made upon a tract of 80 acres be¬ 
longing to Col. Irby Boyd, and adjoining the Union Con¬ 
solidated and Hiwassee Mines, which shows a good deposit ; 
of black copper, yielding 18 per cent. This is in the mid¬ 
dle belt. 


56 OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 

The smelting works of the Union Consolidated Company 
consist of 12 shaft furnaces, 2 reverberatory, and 2 roasting 
furnaces. The process employed for the separation of the 
copper is long, tedious and complicated. It is a combina¬ 
tion, in part, of the English and German methods. The 
ore goes through six operations, the object of each being to 
eliminate some part of the substances with which the copper 
is combined. Prof. Lupton, of the Vanderbilt University, 
thus describes the process: 

“ The ore is subjected to six different operations, some of 
which have to be repeated. When taken from the mine it 
is first dressed, that is taken into small pieces and assorted. 
The reduction embraces: 1. Ore roasting. 2. Ore smelt¬ 
ing. 3. Matte roasting. 4. Matte smelting. 5. Blister 
smelting. 6. Refining. 

1. Ore Roasting .—This is done by simply placing two or 
three layers of seasoned wood on the ground, and piling 
the ore on this to the height of three or four feet. The 
wood is set on fire around the sides and by its slow combus¬ 
tion furnishes sufficient heat to burn a large portion of the 
combined sulphur. The roasting process is repeated, re¬ 
quiring each time about one month for its completion. 

2. Ore Smelting .—The roasted ore is smelted in a shaft 
or cold blast furnace of very simple construction. The 
shaft is about twelve feet in height and two feet square. 
The ore with common charcoal is put in at the top, usually 
about twenty pounds of coal to sixty pounds of ore, the 
proportions varying with the richness and quality of the ore- 
The slag—an impure sulphide of iron—which settles to the 
bottom, floats on top of the impure metal, and is drawn off 
into conical-shaped pots. Should any copper be drawn off 
with the slag, it settles in the small part of the cone, and is 
easily separated from the solidified slag. 

3. Matte Roasting .—The crude black copper, called 
matte, gotten from the ore smelting, contains a large pro- 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


57 


portion of iron, sulphur and other impurities. It is now 
subjected to five successive roastings, by being placed on 
wood, as in ore roasting. This repetition of the process 
concentrates the copper, and renders it more suitable for 
smelting. 

4. Matte Smelting .—The roasted matte is smelted in a 
blast furnace, with the addition of black or siliceous ore in 
sufficient quantity as a flux. 

5. Blister Smelting .—This consists in melting the smelted 
matte in a reverberatory furnace, and allowing a current of 
air to pass over it, in order to further oxidize the iron and 
sulphur. The iron slag formed floats on top of the melted 
copper, and is easily scraped off. The copper, which has 
now become nearly pure, is known as blister copper, and 
requires one more operation to complete the reduction. 

6. Refining .—The last, or refining process, is done by 
simply melting the blister copper in a reverberatory furnace^ 
and poling or stirring it with green poles, the organic mat¬ 
ter of which reduces any oxide of copper, and burns off the 
last traces of sulphur. The purified copper cast into ingots 
is now ready for market. During the process of washing, 
heavy white fumes are emitted consisting chiefly of sul¬ 
phurous acid, which are destructive to vegetation within 
the vicinity of the works, and are by no means healthful to 
the workmen.” 

About five hundred men are employed about the copper 
mines. Many more find employment in the country around 
in cutting wood or converting it into charcoal. Much of 
the wood is obtained twenty miles or more up the Ocoee, 
and floated down to the coaling yard near the Mary Mine. 
The wood is cut and put in the river twenty miles above, 
at one dollar per cord. The Company takes charge of it 
from the time it is launched. Two or three men are em¬ 
ployed with canoes and spike poles to dislodge all that may 
drift against islands, rocks, or other obstructions. Near 


58 OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 

the coaling yard a pontoon bridge has been constructed 
with nets to catch the wood. The wood, as it comes down 
the river, is caught and drawn upon the bridge, and from 
thence hauled to the coaling yard. The cost of the wood 
is variously estimated at from $2.00 to $3.00 per cord, de¬ 
livered on the yard. Charcoal costs from six to seven cents 
for five peck bushels, the former price being paid for small 
lots and the latter when furnished in large quantities. The 
item of hauling is a considerable one. Not only has all 
the charcoal or wood to be hauled from six to ten miles,, 
but all the copper has to be carried in wagons 42 miles to 
Cleveland. 

The Consolidated Company has 5f miles of narrow gauge 
railroad; width of tract 3 feet. The railroad connects the 
Isabella Mines, (not now worked, but upon the lands of 
which the smelting works are built), with the Mary Mine, 
aud the woodvard beyond. It also passes by the smelting 
works to the East Tennessee Mine, one mile further north. 
If a railroad should be constructed to run from Cleveland 
through the copper district to Marietta, Georgia, and there 
connect with the Murphey (N. C.) Railroad, now building, 
the profits of the mining operations at Ducktown would be 
very greatly increased. And this profit would result from 
the utilization of the sulphurous acid gas that is now dissi¬ 
pated in the air, greatly to the injury of the surrounding 
vegetation. This could be cheaply converted into sulphuric 
acid, and a market, by means of such a railroad, found in 
Charleston, S. C., where it is largely in demand for work¬ 
ing up the beds of phosphates into commercial fertilizers. 
Copperas, also, could be made on a large scale, and with 
ready means of transportation might be made profitable. 

The copper region labors under great disadvantages in 
consequence of its distance from market, and a want of such 
facilities. And first among these is the distance that fuel 
has to be hauled. Wood at present, as before stated, has 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


59 


to be brought from a long distance, involving an immense 
amount of trouble and time, in consequence of the rugged¬ 
ness of the country. Supplies, too, for a large population 
have to be hauled in wagons from Cleveland, adding greatly 
to their cost and increasing pro tanto the cost of labor. 

While there are inexhaustible supplies of yellow ores, 
they are very poor and will yield from three to six per cent, 
only. At the present price of copper, bringing in the New 
York market from 18 to 23 cents per pound, it may be 
readily seen that very close management and a rigid econ¬ 
omy are necessary to make the business profitable. 

Ducktown is a name which comprehends all the mining 
districts in the copper region. Hiwassee is the principal 
town of the region. It contains five or six stores, three 
churches, one hotel, and one school house, in which a free 
school is kept up for ten months in the year. One section 
of the Criminal Court is also held at this place, as well as 
at Benton, the county seat. This is done for the con¬ 
venience of the people of Ducktown, Benton being thirty 
miles distant. Stores are at other places in the valley. 

The soil of the copper region is very thin and unproduct¬ 
ive. It consists, for the most part, of a micaceous sand, 
very thirsty and poorly adapted to field crops. By manur¬ 
ing, very good garden vegetables can be grown beyond the 
influence of the sulphurous fumes from the works. Most 
of the supplies are drawn from Cleveland and from the 
western part of the county, where there are areas of an 
abounding fertility. 

LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. 

The only part of the district where coal is found is Look¬ 
out Mountain, which is an outlier of the Cumberland Table¬ 
land. It “ lifts it awful form ” 2,200 feet above the sea, 
and forms a striking feature in the landscape. It lies 
within three miles of Chattanooga, in a south-westerly di¬ 
rection, and is related geologically to the Table-land. It is 


60 OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


a synclinal fold, all the strata dipping towards the centre. 
It extends for many miles southward into Georgia, but its 
boldest ramparts are within a few miles of Chattanooga. 
In this mountain, so charming for its varied and impressive 
scenery, are found some thin seams of coal, but it has never 
been found in such thickness as to justify mining. Proba- 
ably, however, there is no spot within all the district of 
which we have been writing, that is destined in the future 
to be more attractive to an intelligent population. The top 
of the mountain is comparatively level, and its elevation is 
such as to ensure a pure and invigorating atmosphere. The 
traveller in summer in passing from the torrid heats of the 
lower valleys to the airy height of Lookout, feels himself 
intoxicated by the healthfulness of the breezes, and inspired 
by the grandeur and beauty of the scenery. His limbs re¬ 
cover their elasticity and strength ; his bilious habit ceases, 
and he enjoys an exuberance of spirits that denotes com¬ 
plete health. As a summer resort, it will in time become 
famous. Men of wealth will make their homes here and 
enjoy the delightfulness of the mountain air, the healthful¬ 
ness of the chalybeate waters, and the glorious landscapes 
that extend into five States. The views embrace water, 
mountains, towns, fields, farm houses, forests, roads, and 
everything indeed that gives picturesqueness and beauty to 
the landscape. Standing upon the Point, one may see 
Chattanooga, the queen of the valley, lying as it were at 
the very base of the mountain. Girdling it on the east and 
south is Missionary Ridge, rendered famous in history by 
one of the bloodiest battles of the late war. Still beyond 
is the grand range of the Unakas, with its majestic sweep 
through four States—usually hazy in the distance, yet some¬ 
times with peaks resplendent in the glories of a setting sun. 
T'he beautiful Tennessee, too, with its sparkling waters, can 
be traced in its course through many a mile. Far towards 
the mountains long stretches of it, like lakes of light, may 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


61 


be seen gleaming amidst magnificent forests, sometimes 
hidden for many miles, then reappearing lower down the 
valley in long lines, enclosing sunny islands fringed by a 
circle of trees, whose dark shadows give a darker tint to 
the bright waters. Nearer and nearer it comes, sweeping 
now in grand convolutions, and rushing past the city with 
the majesty of a comet. When just beyond its limits, as 
though unwilling to leave the city so soon, it returns on 
itself in a sharp curve like the toe and heel of a foot, and 
flows back for some distance, when it passes on between 
the butting crags of Walden’s Ridge on the north and 
Raccoon Mountain on the south, and disappears. The 
Cumberland Table-land, with its frowning cliffs, may be 
seen as far as Cumberland Gap, one hundred and sixty 
miles distant. We do not propose to attempt to give a full 
description of the views of Lookout Mountain, but only to 
indicate the character of the scenery which is here afforded,, 
because such things have their value in an economical point 
of view, and offer sometimes rare inducements for the in¬ 
vestment of capital. 

Upon the top of Lookout Mountain are waterfalls, nat¬ 
ural bridges, rock cities, placid lakes, and other objects of 
curious interest to the lover of nature. Accommodations 
are afforded the year round to visitors, and the purity of 
the air is thought to afford great relief to persons of delicate 
lungs. 

Chattanooga is the great commercial mart of the Ocoee 
and Hiwassee district. It is not intended to give an 
account of its trade and business prospects; but as a suitable 
gpot for the erection of furnaces it deserves notice. It 
is situated at the very foot of the coal measures. The Ten¬ 
nessee river, that washes its walls, flows with its tributaries 
for more than 200 miles through the richest iron deposits 
©f the district, and its western confluents cut great gaps into 
the coal formation, exposing seams of coal as thick as can 


62 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


be found anywhere, making mining and transportation easy. 
The railroads which centre here from Georgia, Alabama, 
and from the Valley of East Tennessee, all pass over rich 
beds of iron ore. The Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad 
sweeps along the base of the Cumberland Table-land, the 
great depository of coal. Competition among the owners 
of mineral lands will always ensure cheap raw material for 
furnaces, while the river, after the Muscle Shoals obstruction 
shall have been removed, will forever be a guarantee against 
high freights to the north and north-west. The construc¬ 
tion of the Cincinnati Southern Railroad will give the 
shortest routes to the coal and iron regions of the State, and 
to the markets of the west and north, and enable our iron 
masters to compete successfully with the most favored lo¬ 
calities on the continent. Brown hematite iron ore, as well 
as specular, red and magnetic ores, can be obtained by the 
Western Atlantic Railroad in Georgia and Alabama, and 
brown ores by the Tennessee river from near the head of 
navigation of the Hiwassee, and by the Alabama & Chatta¬ 
nooga Railroad. The red ores can be procured also from 
localities just across the river, and at a hundred places up 
the river, as at Half Moon Island and WelckeFs; or it may 
be had on the East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia Railroad 
at White Oak Mountain, in James and Bradley counties; 
or from McMinn county, near Riceville. It may be ob¬ 
tained also from Sequatchee Valley,when the branch railroad 
from Jasper shall be extended; or from Hickman and 
Humphreys counties, even, when the Duck River Valley 
Railroad, now building, shall be running from Johnsonville 
to Fayetteville, and through, doubtless, to the coal fields. 
In passing through Hickman county, this road will 
pass by great deposits of rich brown hematites, un¬ 
equalled in the State and unsurpassed on the continent. 
These vast fields of iron ore can all be made tributary to 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


63 


Chattanooga, both by rail and river, after the Muscle Shoals 
improvement shall be made. 

So much for iron. 

Coal'may be had from the Sewanee Mines, at Tracy City, 
from the HCtna Mines, and Battle Creek Mines, and Vul¬ 
can Mines in Marion county; from Soddy and Sale Creek, 
and other points in Hamilton; from the Dade Mine in 
Georgia, and from the coal fields of Alabama. 

There is at present only one furnace in operation in the 
city, and its ability to keep running during the present period 
of stagnation and depression, is the best argument in favor 
of Chattanooga as a suitable point for the erection of blast fur¬ 
naces. Here, almost every species of ore can be obtained, 
and by judicious mixing, any quality of iron can be manu¬ 
factured which the demands of the trade may call for. This, 
taken in connection with the further fact, that the ores are 
not only rich but cheap, costing delivered less than one- 
fourth what is paid for the same quality of ores in Pitts¬ 
burg, will serve to explain why a furnace in Chattanooga, 
with a limited capital, can run at profit, when nearly all 
the furnaces about Pittsburgh have blown out or are run¬ 
ning at a loss. 

The prices for red ore at the Chattanooga Iron Company’s 
Furnace this year have been as low as $1.60 delivered; 
coke from 9 to 9J cents, payable in pig iron at $25 per ton; 
limestone, 2,250 lbs.', delivered at $1.00, which analyzes from 
93 to 94 per cent, carbonate of lime. For most of the red 
ore used, from $2.00 to $2.32 per ton delivered was paid. 
Much of it was obtained from Attalia, Ala., which analyzes 
as follows, according to William J. Land, Chemist: 


Water. 3.95 

Metallic iron.54.21 

Oxygen combined.23.23 

Silica.,.15.40 

Phosphorus.43 

Undetermined. 2.78 









<54 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


The yield from this furnace is even greater than the 
analysis, being 55 per cent., free of silica, as the following 


analysis by the same chemist will show : 

Metallic iron.94.40 

Carbon. 3.58 

Phosphorus.81 

Sulphur ..n. 13 

Undetermined. 1.28 


The sulphur comes from the fuel. 

When the furnace is in good running order, about forty 
of the following charges are made every 24 hours, viz.: 

Ore.2,600 lbs. 

Coke.1,800 lbs. 

Limestone. 900 lbs. 

The result is from 20 to 22 tons of pig iron—mainly 
foundry No. 2. Scrap is not counted. Mill iron can be 
made with 67 bushels coke per ton. 

Hands are paid in money from §1.00 to §1.25 per day, 


for 10 hour and 12 hour hands. 

Engineer, per day.§2.50 

Assistant, “ 1.50 

2 Engineers for hoisting engine, each. 1.50 

2 Keepers, per day, each. 1.75 

2 Helpers, “ “ . 1.25 


No salaried officers except book-keeper. 

Some of the ore was procured across the Tennessee river 
within a mile and a half of the furnace. The ore from 
this place is rich in metallic iron, but difficult to mine, 
owing to its softness and its tendency to crumble and mix 
with the interstratified shale and clay. The following is an 
analysis of it: 


Silica. , 

Sulphur. 

Water.. 

Oxygen combined... 

Metallic iron.. 

Phosphorus. 

Undermined matter 


12.10 
.15 
. 4.00 
.24.00 
.56.00 
. .42 
, 3.36 






















OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 05 

The following freights were paid by the Company for 
shipping iron by the car load to the points mentioned : 

PER TON. 

From Chattanooga to Louisville, Ky..$3.36 

“ “ to St. Louis, Mo.. 5.47 

“ “ to East St. Louis, Ill. V 5.15 

“ “ to Cincinnati, Ohio. 5.11 

“ “ to Indianapolis, Ind.. 5.11 

u “ to Springfield, Ill.. 5.00 

“ “ to Greencastle, Ind.. 5.16 

“ “ to Nashville, Tenn. 1.51 

“ “ to Evansville, Ind. 3.62J 

u “ to New Albany, Ind. 4.16 

" “ to Terre Haute, Ind.. 4.66 

“ “ to Memphis, Tenn. 3.00 

Since the statistics given above were collected, we have 
the following note from Col. S. B. Lowe, an extensive iron 
dealer at Chattanooga. The figures given will doubtless be 
of great interest to iron merchants generally : 

J. B. Killebrew: —Dear Sir—Your letter of inquiry 
received. The grades and price of the Chattanooga Iron 


Company’s iron is as follows: 

White and Mottled..$14 @ $15 

Gray, mill.$15 @ $16 

No. 2 Foundry, (close). $17 

“ “ “ . $18 

No. 1 “ .$19 @ $22 50 

Freights from Chattanooga to the several points enumer¬ 
ated, is as follows, viz: 

PER TON. 

From Chattanooga to Louisville,.$3.36 

“ “ to Bellville,. 4.67 

“ “ to Nashville,. 1.51 

“ “ to Cairo,. 3.41 

“ “ to Chicago,. 6.31 


5 























99 


OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


From Chattanooga to Cincinnati,.... 

4.56 

a 

a 

to Cleveland,. 

7.06 

u 

a 

to Columbus,. 

5.61 

u 

u 

to Dayton,. 

5.46 

a 

a 

to Detroit,. 

7.11 

a 

a 

to Springfield,. 

5.00 

a 

a 

to Evansville,. 

3.57 

u 

a 

to New Orleans,. 

5.56 

u 

a 

to Rochester, Minn.,. 

12.91 

a 

a 

to Topeka, Kansas,. 

9.17 

a 

a 

to Vicksburg,. 

5.60 

a 

a 

to Kansas City,. 

7.60 

a 

a 

to Jackson, Miss.,. 

5.30 

a 

a 

to Holly Springs,—. 

4.64 

a 

a 

to Keokuk,. 

7.22 

u 

a 

to Huntington, W. Va. 

5.56 

a 

a 

to London, Canada,. 

8.41 

a 

a 

to Michigan City,. 

6.01 

a 

a 

to New Albany,. 

3.76 

a 

a 

to Racine, Wis. 

7.81 

a 

a 

to St. Thomas, Canada,. 

9.31 

<( 

a 

to Memphis,. 

3.00 

a 

a 

to Toronto, Canada,. 

9.11 

a 

a 

to Wheeling,. 

8.01 

a 

a 

to Philadelphia,. 

8.10 

a 

a 

to New York via Norfolk,. 

8.56 

a 

a 

to “ “ “ Charleston(sail) 

5.35 

a 

a 

to Boston,. 

8.80 

Hi 

a 

to Richmond,. . 

6.00 

a 

a 

to Washington,. 

7.50 


Besides these we have rates upon some two or three 
hundred minor points in about the same proportion as those 
already given. 


Respectfully, 


S. B. LOWE. 






























OCOEE AND HIWASSEE MINERAL DISTRICT. 


67 


Iron has been sold at Chattanooga for $15.50 per ton at the 
furnace and a profit realized. During the latter part of last 
year and the beginning of this the prices ranged from $16.50 
to $18.00 at four months. Every thing except coke is paid 
for in cash. If bought for cash, coke can be had delivered at 
6 cents per bushel. We leave for others to figure out the 
cost of manufacturing pig iron at Chattanooga, merely re¬ 
marking, that this Company has thrown out every man who 
does not make an efficient and profitable worker. 

Besides the blast furnace there are two rolling mills at 
Chattanooga, and another in process of erection. The one 
belonging to the Roane Iron Manufacturing Company is the 
only one at work. This employs 500 hands and has a ca¬ 
pacity of 30,000 tons of railroad iron per annum. Its an¬ 
nual sales amount to $1,650,000. It is probably the only 
rolling mill in the country that has this year declared a 
legitimate dividend. 





















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